


Snapshots

by AruuPyon



Category: South Park
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Occasional angst, One Shot Collection, Romance, occasional deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-14 20:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 64,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1278496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AruuPyon/pseuds/AruuPyon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life with the person you love is made up of the little moments that eventually come together to make up a story. A series of Kenny/Butters oneshots that may or may not be connected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Homework

Kenny knew that he should be paying attention to what Butters was saying. After all, Butters was taking time out of his busy schedule to tutor him in a subject that Kenny should have passed two years ago. The least Kenny could do was listen to him explain how to solve for x. But he kept getting distracted by the way Butters' mouth moved as he was working through the sample problems.

"… and that's how you solve for x!" Butters said, having finished the last problem. He looked up from the book to give him a big smile. "See, that isn't so hard, right?"

Kenny blinked. Butters looked so proud of himself right now, teaching a dumbass like himself how to solve simple algebra problems. Most people would have been annoyed to spend ten minutes explaining how to solve it, but not Butters. Every time without fail, he would give Kenny that smile. God, he looked so freaking adorable.

"Kenny?" Butters asked, tilting his head to the side. His lower lip jutted out a little and his eyebrows came together, his expression changing from a smile to a pout. "Were you even paying attention to me?"

Damn. Now how could anybody resist that? He leaned forward and kissed him, smiling into his mouth when Butters squeaked in surprise.

Butters' face was bright red when they moved apart. "Wh-What was that for, Kenny?"

"Couldn't help myself." He said, licking his lips. "You looked so cute just then."

Butters bit his lip. "That's—"

"And besides, you're much more interesting than my algebra homework." He said, giving Butters his most winning grin. Usually this was enough to make Butters drop everything and start making out and give in to him for a few hours.

Butters was definitely flustered, but he wasn't falling for it this time. "B-But you're supposed to be paying attention! I'm going to have to find you another tutor if you can't keep your mind on your studies, mister."

"Why?" He asked, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're the best tutor in school. If anybody can get this to stick in my head, it's you."

"If I keep distracting you, you're never going to learn." He said. His hands were twitching towards each other in a way that caught his attention. The things those hands could do...

He spent a few moments fantasizing about that before he realized that Butters was still talking.

"…A-After all, when we first started going out, you distracted me for the longest time, so maybe this isn't the best situation for you to be learnin' in, Kenny."

"What if I promised not to get distracted anymore?" Kenny asked, forcing himself to move his eyes from Butters's hands to his bright baby blues, to show that he was being serious. "If I can control myself, will you keep being my tutor?"

Butters nodded, making sure his expression was stern. "But you have to finish your homework before you try any more of that stuff, you got it?"

"Fine." Kenny sighed dramatically. He leaned in closer to the table to get a good look at the equations on the page. "So then, once I find x, I have to plug it into the equation right?"

Butters smiled, clearly impressed. "That's right!"

"See, I was paying attention to you." Kenny said, smiling back. For the next hour, he worked his way through each and every problem he had for homework as fast as he could, actually managing to get more than half of them correct, which was a really accomplishment for him. He knew that the faster he was finished with his homework, the faster he could get Butters to fool around with him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came up with most of these during NaNoWriMo and the Camp sessions! Sometimes they are connected, sometimes they aren't. They all, however, heavily feature Kenny and Butters in some form of relationship. Enjoy~


	2. Silence

His room was cold.

Butters shivered underneath his covers as a cool breeze blew in though the open window. It wasn't snowing outside, at least not yet. But still, it was cold. It wouldn't be much trouble getting up and going to the window to close it. But he couldn't do that.

Not while Mysterion was still out there.

Butters tucked the blanket around his neck tighter. It wouldn't be much longer now. He would wait for hours if he had to, but Mysterion never made him wait too long. Every time he was grounded, Mysterion would show up at his window, like clockwork. Butters never knew how Mysterion found out these things, but he never bothered to ask.

Him just being there was enough.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wondering how Mysterion would appear this time. Sometimes he came injured and bleeding. A couple of times he could have sworn he was going to die in his arms, but he never did. He just woke up in an empty bed with bloodied sheets. Butters didn't like those nights. He preferred the nights when he came with his costume intact, a warm smile ready and free of pain.

It was almost funny. No matter how he showed up, Mysterion's first concern was for Butters' well-being, rather than his own. It was nice, having someone care so much for him. Butters didn't have too many people who he would say really cared about him. Mysterion, Aunt Nellie… he didn't know if he should add his parents to that list. Sometimes he doubted how much they really loved him and how much they just cared about keeping up appearances.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a shadow on his carpet. He sat up, followed it to his bedroom window and locked his eyes with familiar blue ones.

"Mysterion." The name came out of his mouth without a second thought. The corners of Mysterion's lips rose and Butters couldn't help but return the smile.

"Hey Butters." He said his voice deep and rough. He slipped in through the open window, revealing no tears or spots of blood on his costume. Butters had to bite his tongue to keep from sighing in relief. It wasn't going to be a bad night.

Mysterion moved to the side of his bed and knelt down in front of his bed. Butters turned so that he was facing him.

"What did they ground you for this time?" He asked, lifting his gloved hand to brush away the bangs on Butters' forehead. "Something stupid?"

He nodded. "I didn't alphabetize the cabinet right again. I put the Hamburger Helper in front of the Hot Noodle ingredients, and my dad put it in his cup."

Mysterion sighed. "Why the hell would he blame you for that, Butters? Clearly, that was his own damn fault."

"Language, Mysterion." Butters said, smiling at him. It didn't matter how many times Butters told him to tone down the swearing, Mysterion always forgot. Butters didn't mind reminding him though. "No cussin', okay?"

"Your father really deserves to be cussed at, Butters." He sighed again, letting his hand fall from his forehead to cup his cheek. "I don't like how he treats you."

"It's not so bad." Butters said, reaching up to hold Mysterion's hand over his cheek. "Honest."

Mysterion looked into his eyes for a moment. Butters wondered what he was looking for. Every time he looked into Mysterion's eyes, he only saw the kindness in them. He was sure there was something else underneath, something that caused all that blood to end up on his costume, but it was never around in his bedroom. Maybe Mysterion kept that out of his gaze just for him.

"I've missed you." Mysterion said, finally breaking the eye contact.

"I've missed you too." Butters said, smiling. "I'm always glad when you come over."

Mysterion pulled him into his arms and held him close. "How come you never want to know who I am, Butters? How come you let me into your room at night like this, when I'm practically a complete stranger to you?"

Butters didn't even have to think about his answer. "Because I trust you, Mysterion. I don't care who you are, or what you've done. You treat me real nice, and that's all that matters."

The arms around him tightened. "Is that really all that matters to you?"

He nodded. "Isn't it enough?"

"For you? Yeah, I think so." Mysterion pulled back enough to look into his eyes for a moment before leaning in to kiss him. It was a lot more passionate that all the other kisses they'd had before, making excitement pool in Butters' stomach.

He was the first to break away, a sly smile on his face. "Come on, my bed's really cold. I need you to warm me up."

Mysterion wasted no time climbing in with him. "Are your parents asleep yet?"

Butters nodded, wrapping his arms around Mysterion's thin but muscular body. "They won't come checking until sunrise."

"Good." Mysterion said, capturing his lips again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the South Park Kink Meme. It's kind of AU-ish, because Butters doesn't know Mysterion's identity in this. I had a lot of fun writing this one ^-^


	3. Bedroom

Even though he'd known Butters practically his entire life, Kenny had never actually seen his bedroom.

Oh sure, he'd been to Butters' house a few times before, but he always stayed downstairs under the suspicious eyes of Stephen and Linda Stotch. Kenny knew they looked at him like he was a felon because he was poor, but so did storeowners, teachers, and police officers. He didn't take offense to it anymore.

He was only in Butters' bedroom now because his parents were out for the weekend and Butters had invited him over. Butters wasn't allowed to go with them because they grounded him for something stupid like not saying 'bless you' when his dad sneezed or whatever.

Seriously, they'd done that once.

Looking around the room, Kenny felt a little disappointed. Aside from being way too neat and clean for a thirteen year old boy, the room was pretty average. The walls were blue, there was a desk on one side of the room, a white dresser in the corner, a bed in another corner. Completely normal.

"So this is your room, huh?" Kenny said as Butters placed his backpack down beside the desk.

"It sure is!" Butters replied, bringing out his pencil case and his homework from his backpack. "This is the first time you've been up here, right Kenny?"

"Yeah."

Butters' voice was cheerful. "What do you think?"

"It's…" Kenny glanced around the room again. "It's not what I expected."

"Really?" Butters looked up from the math problems he'd started working on. "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know. More pink? Stuffed animals on the floor? Hello Kitty form wall to wall at least"

Butters looked around his room, as if trying to imagine everything he'd just said around his room. "You do realize I am a boy, Kenny."

"I know that." Kenny said, rolling his eyes. "You just hang around the girls so often, you give off a girly-vibe."

"I don't give off a girly vibe!" Butters exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest in a way that made Kenny think of Bebe. Bebe did that EXACT move when she argued with people.

"If you say so." Kenny said, smiling at the pout that crossed Butters' face. He sat down on the bed and stretched out on it while Butters continued on his homework.

Damn, his bed was comfortable. Kenny resisted the urge to sigh as he lay there. It was so much better than his shitty bed at home. Aside from not having any springs poking out and stabbing him, it was much softer. His longer he lay there, listening to Butters scribbling at the desk the heavier his eyes got. He kept having to shake his head to keep from dozing off.

"Hey, Kenny?"

"Hm?" Kenny lifted his head and realized that the shadows on the wall were a lot longer. How much time had he spent trying to fight off sleep?

"Is there anything in my room that didn't surprise you?" Butters asked, his back to Kenny. He was still working at his desk.

Kenny patted the mattress a little before answering. "This right here."

"My bed?"

"Yeah." Kenny's head felt a little foggy, like he'd actually been asleep. "I might have expected some flowered sheets or something, but I knew you'd have a bed like this. It's secure, like you."

"I'm secure?" Butters asked, turning from his homework to look at Kenny. "What does that mean?"

"That you're nice. It's a compliment." Kenny muttered, burying his face in a pillow that hadn't been under his head when he'd first climbed on the bed. Maybe he had dozed off for a while. "Hey, can I take a nap here?"

His eyes were already closed, so he didn't see Butters smile at him. "You sure can, Kenny!"

The next time he opened his eyes, he thought he'd gone blind. He rubbed at his eyes, half-worried and half- groggy, before he realized that the room was just dark now.

"Butters?" He whispered, his eyes going to the desk first. He could just make out the other boy's yellow head in the dark, shifting slightly with his breathing.

Kenny sat up, the blanket covering him falling around his legs. Wait, blanket? Yes, he'd been covered by a blanket. He looked back at the boy sleeping at his desk.

"Guess my nap turned into a sleepover…" he mumbled as he stepped out of the bed. The floor felt cold underneath his feet, letting him know that Butters had taken off his shoes too. Kenny shook his head, wondering how the guy could be so thoughtful to the person who'd stolen his bed for the night. He walked over to Butters and gently shook his shoulder. "Butters. Hey Butters, wake up."

Butters moaned in his sleep. Kenny shook a little harder and Butters blinked up at him sleepily. "Kenny?"

"Sorry I took your bed." He said as he helped Butters get to his feet. "You can have it back now."

"What time is it?" Butters asked, stifling a yawn into his hand.

Kenny looked around as he guided him to his bed, and saw the clock on the wall. "2 AM, maybe?"

Butters' eyes widened. "Really? You should call your parents Kenny, they'll be worried sick about you."

"I've been out later than this." Kenny said, pulling the blankets up to Butters' chest. "They won't be worried when I walk through the door at this hour."

"You're walking home?" Butters asked, sitting up quickly, letting the blankets fall to his lap. "It's too late to go out now, not to mention dangerous."

"I can take care of myself." Kenny said, winking. Butters didn't catch it in the dark, but the confidence in Kenny's voice reassured him a little. Kenny slipped on his shoes and went to the door. "Thanks for letting me use your bed though."

"It was no problem." Butters mumbled, too sleepy to fight the lure of his bed. "You take care of yourself, okay, Kenny?"

"I will." Kenny said, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's not exactly shippy, but friendship fluff is great between these two! Besides, this one takes place much earlier than the first two oneshots.


	4. Hospital

"I'm so sorry, Butters."

Butters sighed in exasperation. "Please stop saying that, Kenny. I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry." Kenny said again, letting his head sink into the sheets.

"I'm okay, really." He said, attempting to lift his left arm, though he knew that the cast wouldn't allow much movement. Still, he tried to move it as far as he could to prove that he was okay. Pain immediately shot up his body and he couldn't help wincing. "I-I feel fine, honest."

His words only made Kenny groan into the bed. "I'm the worst person on the planet."

Butters shook his head. "No you're not. It wasn't even your fault."

It was like he wasn't even listening to him. "I'm worse than Satan. Worse than Hitler. Worse than even Cartman."

Butters nearly burst out laughing at that last one. "Now that's going a little overboard, Kenny. It's not like you were the one who broke my arm."

Kenny lifted his head, revealing his tired-looking blue eyes. "But it was my fault that it was broken in the first place."

Butters smiled, trying to reassure him. "I was the one who ran after you, not the other way around. If it's anyone's fault, it's not yours. It's mine."

Kenny's head sank down again. "You shouldn't have tried to save me."

Butters blinked at those words. "Don't you say that. Of course I should have."

The next words out of Kenny's mouth were so muffled, even Butters (who had made it a personal life goal of his to decipher what he liked to call 'Kenny-Speak') couldn't understand them.

"Can you say that again, Kenny?" He asked, moving his other hand to brush Kenny's hood off. "I couldn't hear you."

Kenny moved his head just enough so that his words were clearer. "I don't want to be the reason you get hurt, Butters. I've done that enough times with everyone else I love."

Butters frowned. "Now you listen here mister, it was my choice to run out into the street and push you out of the way of that speeding truck. I knew that I could get hurt doing that, but I still went and did it."

"Why though?" Kenny asked, his blue eyes pleading for an answer.

A rush of blood found its way to his face. The words came out without him thinking about it. "B-Because I couldn't imagine having to live in a world without you."

A strange look came on Kenny's face. "What do you mean?"

It was kind of embarrassing, having to say it out loud. But if it made Kenny feel better… he wasn't going to hold back. "I love you, Kenny. I don't care if we've only been casually dating for a little while now, I mean it. And the thought of you being killed by that truck was too much. I couldn't just let it happen."

"He still doesn't know…" Kenny whispered to himself.

"Huh?" Butters asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Kenny shook his head. "Nevermind. Do you really mean that, Butters?"

He smiled. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

It was like the sun finally broke through the clouds in Kenny's head. He returned Butters' smile. "Me too. I don't care if other people think it's too soon to say it. I love you too."

"It's kinda funny don't you think?" Butters asked, a small laugh making its way out of his throat. "A declaration of love in a hospital bed? It's like a scene from a movie."

"Yeah, a little." Kenny said, leaning forward. "And don't they always kiss during those scenes?"

"They sure do!" Butters said, closing the gap between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mm, what to say about this one? I really like the idea of injured Butters. Also in this oneshot, they've been together for only a month.


	5. Unpredictable

The rapid tapping sound at his window didn't register in his sleep-heavy mind for the longest time. If it wasn't for the accompanying voice calling his name, he might have ignored it completely and slept right through it.

"Kenny!" Tap, tap, tap. "Kenny, wake up!"

Kenny lifted his head and blinked hard at his window. It had come from the window, right? Another round of tapping confirmed the whereabouts of the noise. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around the room for the clock. He gave up after a few seconds of searching. It was late as hell, that was all he needed to know.

"Kenny, over here!" The voice whispered, and it finally clicked in his head that he recognized that voice. He walked over to the window and reeled back when he saw who it was on the other side.

"Butters?" He asked, moving to lift the window (the glass was really dirty from years of neglect) so he could get a good look at him. Sure enough, that was Butters Stotch outside his bedroom window, in the middle of the night, grinning like a crazy person.

"Hi." He said, as if it was perfectly normal for him to be here this late. Kenny almost considered pinching himself to see if this wasn't some weird dream he was having before deciding against it. His mind could never come up with something this bizarre on its own.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, taking in everything Butters was wearing. All black clothes, chains and belts and studded bracelets adorning his body. There were streaks of black in his blond hair even!

Butters grinned. "I'm breaking the rules, that's what I'm doing."

Kenny couldn't help smiling. Butters, breaking rules? That was as likely as Kenny going a month with dying. "Since when do you break rules?"

"Since I decided that my parents can't control me anymore." He said, sticking his tongue out in a way that he must have thought was rebellious. It was actually kinda cute. "They said I couldn't wear this stuff while I was under their roof, so I left."

"You… you left?" Kenny asked, eyebrows rising to his hairline. "You just ran away from home?"

Butters shrugged. "I didn't run out. I just went out the door and started walking."

Kenny shook his head. He couldn't decide what was more unbelievable, the fact that Butters up and left his home or the fact that the first person he went to was him. "I can't believe it."

"That's I'm rebelling?" Butters asked, his eyes glittering with excitement. "I can't really believe it either. Except I kind of can, you know? I had it up to here with their dumb rules."

Kenny laughed when Butters raised his hand over his head, palm down. "If I was in your shoes, I would have been there a long time ago. What was it that pushed you over the edge?"

He sighed. "Well, I'd just finished dyeing my hair. Do you like it by the way?"

Kenny nodded. "I think it suits you."

"Thanks, I'm glad you think so. Okay, so I'd just finished, and I went down stairs, and all of a sudden my parents started yelling at me. My dad threatened to shave my head! And when he said that he wouldn't have this kind of behavior in his house, I told him 'Fine, I'll leave' and he said 'I'd like to see you try young man.' You should have seen the look on his face when I just walked out the door." Butters laughed. "It was great!"

Kenny was impressed. "About time you stood up to them. Good job, Butters."

"Actually, it's not so good of a job." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Because I left so suddenly, I didn't think to bring my phone, or even any money. I'm kinda homeless if you think about it."

"Is that why you're outside my house right now?" Kenny asked, giving him a lopsided grin.

Butters blushed. "Y-yeah, that's why."

"And you were wondering if you could crash here for the night?" He asked, enjoying the flustered look on Butters' face.

"I wouldn't ask you if I had any other options, Ken." He said, unable to look him in the eye. "I'll take the floor and I promise I'll be gone by morning."

Kenny could see him shivering. How long had he been out there? He moved out of the window and offered him a hand. "Don't worry about that stuff. Come in before you freeze to death out there."

"Oh thank you!" Butters said, his smile shining bright even in the darkness. He hopped up and swung his leg over the windowpane. Kenny tried to help pull him into the room, but they ended up in a heap on the floor. He felt Butters laugh as he moved off of him. "Sorry about that, Kenny. I should have been more careful."

He grinned. "It's fine, I'm used to having people on top of me in this room."

Even though he couldn't see him, he knew Butters was blushing. "Oh, um… th-that's nice?"

He bit his tongue to keep from laughing. "Come on, you better get some sleep. How long have you been outside my window?"

"Not very long." He said, shifting so that he was sitting upright. "Probably only an hour or so."

Kenny's eyes widened. "Really?"

Butters nodded. "Your house is a lot warmer though, so I'm sure I'll get to sleep really fast!"

"You're taking my bed." Kenny said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"But Ken—"

He put his finger over his lips. "Just take it okay? Remember when you let me take your bed that one time? I'm repaying that by letting you take my bed tonight."

Butters looked from the bed to Kenny's face. He could see how much Butters just wanted to get under the covers and get to sleep. "If you're really sure…"

"I'm extremely sure." He said.

Butters hesitated for another moment before standing up and moving towards the bed. "Gee Kenny, you're a really great friend. One of the best I've ever had."

"Thank me in the morning." He said, moving a pile of clothes towards him as a makeshift blanket. "It's late as fuck."

"Okay." Butters said. From the tone of his voice, Kenny could tell he was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More pre-relationship stuff~ I really just like how they interact as characters. This one's actually connected to Chapter 3!


	6. Nemesis

It was freezing out here.

He shivered as a light breeze blew at him from the direction of the lake. It was ridiculous, being out here this late at night in his Professor Chaos outfit. It looked exactly the same as it had back when he was a kid, only a little better made. He rubbed his arms, trying to get the feeling back into them. He shouldn't be out here.

But he was waiting for someone.

Stark's Pond was quiet this time of night. The little kids who came here to ice skate were long gone, and it was way too late for the early joggers to be seen here. Late enough that even the couples who sneaked out to see each other were gone. It was just him out here, waiting.

And waiting.

He stamped his feet, telling himself that he was just trying to get the circulation flowing there again. But if he was being honest, he was stomping around because he was mad. Just where the heck was he? He had never been this late before. If either of them was ever late, it wasn't him. The good guys were always supposed to be on time, weren't they?

If he really thought about it, no they weren't. The heroes only ever arrived after the villain started his evil plans. The villains were kept waiting while the heroes took their sweet time. So maybe it was right, him being the one kept waiting. It still didn't make him feel any better about freezing his toes off though.

"You look cute when you frown."

He nearly jumped out of his skin. Keeping his expression neutral, he whirled around to find the source of the voice at his ear, not that he needed to. He knew who it was. "Mysterion."

There he was, in full costume, as if he'd always been there. He was smirking at the reaction he'd gotten. Of course. "Hey Chaos. Miss me?"

He scowled, mostly at the way his heart was racing though. "You've kept me waiting."

"Things came up." He said, taking in his appearance. "You look cold."

He was trying to get a rise out of him, as usual. He wasn't falling for it, hadn't since he first realized that was what Mysterion was doing. Instead he answered, "Well I've been here for over an hour."

He chuckled. "Next time I'll call if I'm going to be late."

"Are we doing this or what?" He asked, getting impatient. He took the defensive stance he always did before they started fighting. "Come on, I've been ready for ages."

Mysterion didn't make a move towards him though. In fact, he kept his at-ease position, as if he wasn't about to be attacked. It made him uneasy. He didn't let it show in his voice though. "What's the deal, Mysterion? Finally realized you can't defeat me?"

He shrugged. "I don't feel like fighting tonight, Chaos."

His eyes widened behind his helmet. He was so surprised that he didn't think to use his deeper voice when he spoke again. "You don't?"

"Nope." He said, walking a little further away from him, towards the lake.

It could just be a trick. They did that sometimes, pretend to quit only to land a quick punch to turn the fight around. But that was always after they'd started…"Well then, what do you feel like doing?"

"I don't know…" He said, blue eyes scanning the other end of the pond. "How about talking this once?"

"Talking?" He asked, his suspicions clear in his tone. "What do either one of us have to say to the other that isn't said with blows to the face, Mysterion?"

"Chaos." He said. Nothing else, just his name.

The way he said it though, made him want to know what else he had to say.

"Y-Yeah?" He asked, cursing his accidental stutter. He always tried to keep it out of his voice when they met up.

Mysterion turned those electric blue eyes towards him. He had to remind himself to breathe, they were looking at him so intensely. "Why do you want to fight me so badly? We've been doing this for too long."

"I…" He blinked, suddenly thrown by the question. "Why do you want to know?"

"I want to know why we come out here. Why you sneak out of your home to meet me, and why I always make sure nothing keeps me from coming." He turned his eyes towards the stars. "There's no reason for it, is there? We could call it quits right now and that would be it."

Call it quits? He couldn't imagine NOT doing this. It was what they did, what he came to expect. "I don't want this to stop."

"What?"

"I want to keep seeing you, Mysterion." He said, and it wasn't Professor Chaos saying it, it was the person behind the disguise, Butters. "I don't know why, but I have to see you every night. I don't care if I have to wait for hours, or if I'm losing sleep, or even that my grades are going down the drain. I need to see you."

Mysterion didn't say anything. A light breeze picked up, sending their capes billowing out behind them. A shiver ran through him, but he tried not to let it show. Showing a little weakness would take the meaning out of his words, or at least he felt it would.

Finally, Mysterion smiled at him. "I need to see you too."

He could feel his heart speed up in his chest. "Good."

They stood like that for a while, listening to the other's breathing. One of his favorite parts of their late night meetings was after, when one of them had beaten the other (it was usually Mysterion who managed to pin him to the ground, but since there weren't any rules, he occasionally managed a win). For just a moment, before they got up, they stopped and listened to the sound of the cold night air going in and out of the other's lungs.

"Are we going to fight or what?" He finally asked, raising an eyebrow almost tauntingly. "Or are you forfeiting tonight?"

Mysterion grinned. "You asked for it, Chaos."

"Bring it on." He said, grinning when he felt Mysterion's body colliding with his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's in no way connected to chapter 2. This one was almost too much fun to write XD


	7. Misunderstanding

"Hey Kenny, do you want to go out?"

Kenny nearly started choking on his own spit. Butters had to hit his back a few times before he could speak again. "What… what are you talking about, Butters?"

"I was asking if you wanted to go out, like how Stan and Kyle are?" Butters' blue eyes still looked worried. "Are you okay, Kenny? You look a little pale. Do you need water? I have some in my bag…"

Kenny numbly took the water bottle Butters handed him, thankful for the distraction it would offer. Give him a few moments to think.

Butters had just asked him out. Butters. He never would have guessed it, if it hadn't just happened. He had no idea how to answer him. It wasn't that Butters was unattractive, far from it actually. Butters was adorable. He wasn't ashamed to admit he'd thought about him sometimes, late at night when he couldn't get to sleep. If it was based on looks alone, he wouldn't have to think about accepting his offer.

But it was Butters. Sweet, trusting Butters who was his friend. Kenny wasn't the best guy in the world, and though he never meant to, he'd hurt plenty of people in the past. He couldn't hurt Butters like the others, couldn't take the happiness out of his pretty blue eyes.

No, he wouldn't let himself hurt him.

"Are you feeling better now, Ken?" Butters asked, smiling at him.

Kenny looked down at the plastic bottle in his hands, currently empty. He had finished the water without realizing. "Oh yeah, I guess. Listen, about what you said before."

"Yeah?" Butters asked, looking eager to hear his answer.

"I think you're great, you know that right?" He started, dreading having to say every word. "And you're a great friend, I definitely consider you one of my best friends."

Butters eyes widened and his cheeks colored. "Kenny, that's so nice of you to say—"

He held up his hand. "Please let me finish. You're a great guy, and anybody would be lucky to have you. But I'm not the kind of person you'd want to go out with. You're sweet and kind, and maybe I really would like to go out with you, but you could do better than me."

Butters looked confused. "Kenny, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how even though I'm flattered that you would ask me out, I really don't think it's a good idea." He said, suddenly feeling like it was wrong to say that. Why wouldn't it's be a good idea? Maybe they could make it work somehow. He could always try to be a better person and—

"I… I was asking if you wanted to outside Kenny." Butters said, tilting his head towards the door. "You know, like how Stan and Kyle are right now? Mr. Oliver said that we could sit on the benches outside to do our homework."

"Oh." He said, his mind suddenly going blank. It seemed that he misunderstood.

"You thought I was asking you out?" Butters asked. His eyebrow furrowed in his confusion. "Did you want to go out with me?"

"What?" Kenny asked. He couldn't seem to make his brain work. "No. Yes. What?"

Butters looked uncomfortable for the both of them as he gathered his things and stood up. "I guess I should have been clearer with what I was askin' huh? I'll… I'll go ask Bebe if she wants to go outside with me."

"Butters, wait!" Kenny said. He stood up and grabbed his hand before he could get away. "I'll go outside with you."

His other hand twitched with the need to mash it with the hand Kenny was grabbing. "I don't want things to be awkward, Ken. If you feel the need to explain away me not-asking you out, you must really not like me…"

Oh great, by trying not to hurt him, he'd done even more damage. "Butters that's not it, I do like you. It was just a misunderstanding."

Butters bit his lip. "Well…"

Kenny hung his head. "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings."

"It's okay Kenny, I understand. It must be weird, thinking your guy friend wants to go out with you." He said, smiling.

He smiled back. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"I do, but I don't think Mr. Oliver will." Butters said, glancing over Kenny's shoulder.

Kenny turned to see their teacher glaring down at him. "H-Hey Oli."

"Boys, you can either go outside or sit down" He said in his booming baritone. Even without the glare, Mr. Oliver was menacing. "But stop interrupting my class."

"Yes sir." They both said, taking their books and walking over to where Stan and Kyle were sitting. Kenny thought he heard Cartman calling them fags, but Mr. Oliver's angry voice reprimanding him made up for being unable to kick his ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I based this off of something that happened to a friend in real life XD


	8. Clothes

"Are you almost done in there? I can't wait to see how you look!" Bebe said, her voice sounding a little muffled through the door. Butters turned around in the mirror once, looking at himself from every angle.

"I… I'm not sure…" He said, fidgeting with the skirt.

"Well I'm sure you look adorable!" Bebe said, sounding a little too optimistic. At least, Butters thought she sounded too optimistic.

"Come on, I want to see how you look too." Oh hamburgers, that was Kenny. Now Butters was less sure than ever. He'd dressed up in front of Bebe dozens of times, but this was the first time since fourth grade that Kenny was going to see him in girl's clothes.

"O-Okay then, I'll be right out." He said. He adjusted his wig a little bit and took a deep breath. Time to see how someone else reacted to his crossdressing.

He kept his eyes on the floor as he stepped through the door. He heard Bebe's bed springs squeak as the two of them shifted to get a better look at him.

"Oh Marjorine, you look amazing!" Bebe exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I knew that blue skirt would look great on you!"

Butters felt himself smiling a little. Bebe always knew what would look good on him. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so." Bebe said. She squeezed him tight against her and hurried out of the room. "I have to get a picture of this! I'm going to go get my camera, okay?"

She was out the door before either of them could answer. Butters was suddenly more nervous without her there. Kenny hadn't said anything yet, though he could feel the other boy's eyes on him, and he found that he couldn't look up.

"S-so, um. Do you think this looks okay on me?" He asked, gesturing to himself. He was wearing a blue skirt that Bebe said matched his eyes, and a white sleeveless top that hid the fact that he didn't have any boobs very nicely. Bebe said his shoulders were perfect for shirts without sleeves, and 'most girls would kill to have such pretty arms', but right now, he wasn't feeling so sure. He felt a little exposed, showing so much skin.

"It looks great on you." Kenny said. Butters looked up from the floor and saw that Kenny was looking at him with a slightly amused expression on his face.

"Really?" He asked, fidgeting with the hem of the skirt. "You don't think I look weird?"

"Weird?" Kenny laughed. "You look like a real girl right now. If I had seen you out in the street like that, I totally would have hit on you by now."

Butters felt himself blush. "What do you mean?"

"You're a really pretty girl." Kenny said, standing up. He walked over and put his face really close to Butters'. "Are you wearing make up?"

"A… A little bit." Butters said, uncomfortable with him being so close. "Usually Bebe does it for me, but I've been practicing for myself. F-For when she's not around."

"You did a really good job. Making me feel a little confused." Kenny said, grinning. His hand came up and Butters wasn't sure what he was going to do next when Bebe came back, camera in hand.

"Alright, let's get a good one of the three of us!" She said, hurrying over to the two of them. Butters was grateful for her interruption and quickly turned to face her. "This is going to be a 'Sharing of Marjorine with a Little More of the World' picture. Kenny, you stand to the left of her. I'll stand on her other side."

Kenny draped his arm over Butters shoulder. "You use feminine pronouns too?"

"O-Only when I'm dressed up like this." Butters said. "Bebe likes it, and it just sounds right, you know?"

"Yeah, kinda." He said, but the look on his face said that he didn't, exactly. Which was alright, Butters though. Kenny had only just found out and was a part of all this. Maybe he'd understand better the longer he was around.

Bebe wrapped her arm around his waist. "Alright you two, big smiles! One… Two… Three!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually would have been part of a longer fic, but I lost inspiration for it. As you will see, I'm a big fan of Bebe+Butters friendship and of Marjorine~


	9. Notes

"Okay students, just copy the notes off the board." The teacher said, walking over to her desk and pulling out a magazine. "If you finish before class ends, you can do whatever you like. Just don't make too much noise."

Most of the kids in the class started talking to each other, ignoring the notes completely. Mrs. Goodwill never bothered to actually teach her class anything, preferring to read magazines while the students were left to their own devices. All of her tests were open notes, so all you had to do to pass her class was be able to read and write.

Even so, almost nobody took notes in class, instead copying from someone lame enough to do work in her class.

Butters started copying right away, knowing that if he didn't, most of the class would fail the next test. He didn't mind it. He was helping a lot of people by writing the notes down, and he liked being useful.

He was so into his note taking that he didn't notice someone sitting in the chair next to him until they spoke. "Hey Butters."

He jumped, turning his face to see Kenny grinning at him. "O-Oh, hey there Kenny. I didn't know you had this period."

"I don't, I'm just killing time right now." He said. He looked at Butters' desk, raising his eyebrows. "What are you doing?"

"Taking notes." Butters said, glancing back to the board and finishing the sentence he was writing.

"Why don't you just copy them from someone else later?" Kenny asked. "You know, like everyone else does."

Butters smiled sheepishly, keeping his eyes on the words in front of him. "I'm the one everybody copies off this period, so…"

"Oh." Kenny put his chin in his hand, watching him silently for a minute. "I guess that means you can't get out of here and hang out somewhere with me then."

Butters thought that sounded a little strange. "Get out? What do you mean by that, Ken? Class isn't over yet."

Kenny blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Serious about what?" Butters asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Kenny shook his head, an amused smile on his face. "Wow, you're such a dork."

Butters frowned. "You shouldn't call people names."

"I meant it in a good way." Kenny said. "It's cute how much you care about school."

"Oh… well then thank you!" Butters said, giving Kenny his signature sunny smile. He went back to copying from the board.

Kenny watched him work for a while. It was making Butters a little nervous, but he didn't say anything. It wasn't stopping him from doing his work, so if Kenny wanted to stare at him, he wasn't going to make him stop. He was nearly done when Kenny spoke up again.

"You write like a girl." He said, making Butters look up from his paper.

"What?" He asked, blinking up at him.

"Your handwriting's really girly." Kenny said, pointing at the words on the page. "See? It's loopy and kind of pretty like a girl's."

"It's just neat." Butters said, looking at his handwriting. Sure, it was a little feminine, but that wasn't a bad thing. Was it? "Why, is it bad?"

"No, I'm just observing." Kenny said. "Yours is girly, Stan's is blocky, and mine's some chicken scratch thing."

"Oh, okay." He said, feeling a little better.

"That's why I never pass one of Goodwill's tests." Kenny said, gesturing to the notes on Butters' desk. "It's not because I didn't copy them from someone, I just can't read a damn thing I wrote."

"Well, you can always borrow mine!" Butters said happily. "You know, since I won't need them, 'cause we have this class at different times."

"Really?" He asked, looking surprised that Butters would offer him his notes.

Butters nodded. "Of course. That's what friends are for right?"

"Yeah." Kenny said, smiling at him.

"McCormick? What are you doing in here?" Mrs. Goodwill asked, finally having looked up from her magazine for the first time in the hour.

Kenny turned around to face her and waved. "Hey Goodwill, how's it going?"

She frowned at him. "Stop bothering Butters and get back to your own class."

"He isn't bothering me, ma'am." Butters said. She didn't pay any attention to him though.

"Hurry up, or I'll get security." She said.

"Yeah right, like she'd get out of her desk for anything other than the last bell. Old cow." Kenny mumbled under his breath. Butters bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud. He knew it was mean to think of her like that, but 'old cow' was just about the best fitting title for that woman.

"McCormick…" Mrs. Goodwill started.

"I'm going, I'm going." Kenny said as he stood up. "I'll be counting the hours until I see you again, Goodwill."

"Goodbye McCormick." She said, ducking her head under her magazine again.

Kenny leaned down to Butters' level before he left. He kept his voice down so the teacher wouldn't notice him. "You're going to sit next to us at lunch later, right?'

"Oh, sure thing." Butters said, smiling. "See you later!"

"Bye." He said and walked out the door.

Butters watched him go until he couldn't see him anymore, then looked down at his page, frowning. Girly handwriting huh? He wrote something down in the margin and tried to make it look un-girly.

_Kenny McCormick._

It really was kind of loopy. He tried it again, this time concentrating.

_Kenny McCormick._

Maybe it was the way he held his pencil? He tried it again.

Kenny McCormick.

That looked better. At least, it was significantly less pretty than the other two. But it was an awful lot of effort to write like that. Butters shook his head, scribbling out the words. He was just going to write the way he always did, girly or not.

He felt someone tap his shoulder. "Are you finished with the notes, Butters?"

He turned away from his paper to see Heidi standing over him. "Oh yeah, almost Heidi. I just need to get the last bullet point."

"Okay, give them to me when you're done." She said, turning back to her desk. She paused though, cocking her head to the side. "You have a weird look on your face, Butters."

"I do?" He asked, his hand going to his face.

"Yeah, it's this weird smile." She said, shrugging. She turned and walked back to her desk, where her friends were.

His smile? Butters felt his mouth and sure enough, the corners were pulled up. He hadn't even noticed he was smiling. He wondered how his smile must have looked, before shrugging and getting back writing the last bullet point. He'd long ago come to terms with having a weird face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we've all had a teacher like Mrs. Goodwill. And I've definitely been in Butters' position ^^;


	10. Jail

Aunt Nellie had told Butters once that if you get a call late at night, it was hardly ever good news.

Butters fumbled around in the dark, searching for his ringing phone. The light of his clock, reading 2: 45, was hardly enough for him to see by. If he didn't answer it soon, his dad would wake up and ground him for staying up past his bed time. His fingers curled around it when he reached in his backpack and he flipped it open, answering before seeing who it was calling so late.

"H-Hello, who's this?"

Whoever it was, there was a lot of noise in the background where they were. "Butters? It's Kenny."

"Kenny?" Butters asked, not sure if he was hearing right. Kenny knew not to call him this late at night. Why was he on the other line at this hour? Had something happened? "What's the matter, is something wrong?"

Kenny sighed into his phone. "You're not going to like this."

"What is it?" He asked, truly worried now.

"Well, the thing is… I got arrested."

Butters nearly dropped his phone, he was so shocked. He couldn't say anything as Kenny waited on the other line for him to speak. It was a while before Kenny finally started talking again.

"Butters, did you hear what I said? I've been arrested." Pause. "Are you still there?"

Finally, Butters found his voice again. "What do you mean you got arrested?"

Kenny laughed a little, though Butters didn't know how he could find something like this funny. "I didn't do anything wrong, if that's what you're wondering."

"How did you get arrested then?" He asked.

"Cops hate McCormicks." Kenny said, as if that explained everything.

Butters frowned. "Kenny, that wasn't the real reason. Was it?"

"No, but the cops really do hate my family." Kenny said.

"So what happened that made them arrest you?" Butters asked him.

"Hang on." Kenny said. There was someone yelling on the other end, and Butters was afraid that something was happening to him for a second until he heard Kenny laugh. "Sorry, the cops just brought in a drunk and he puked all over the big one's shoes."

"Is he okay?"

"Which one, the cop or the drunk?"

"Um… either one. Both of them."

He could hear Kenny shifting to see. "Well, the drunk is being thrown into the jail cell, but he looks fine. The other dude's pissed though. His whole face is red!"

"Kenny…" Butters started, wanting to get back to the fact that Kenny was in jail.

"Oh right, the reason I'm here." Kenny's voice sobered up. "It's total bullshit, just letting you know. It turns out my parents were cooking up meth in that shack behind the house."

"Meth?" Butters' eyes went wide. "How did they manage to do that?"

"I don't know, Butters. I should have noticed, my room's the one that faces the backyard." He sighed, frustrated. "When the cops came, they arrested everyone in the house, except my sister. They're convinced Kevin and I were in on it. I have no idea if Kevin's involved, but I haven't done anything."

"I believe you. That's awful, Kenny." Butters murmured, feeling pretty awful at the whole situation. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Actually there is. Can you call Kyle? I was hoping that his dad would be able to help somehow."

"I can do that, definitely." Butters said, nodding into the receiver. "I'll even check up on Karen in the morning, if you want me to."

"Yeah, if it's not too much trouble." Kenny said, clearly relieved. "Thanks a lot Butters, I knew I could count on you."

A thought came into Butters' mind. "Shouldn't you have called Kyle first, if you need to talk to his dad?"

"I thought about that." Kenny said. "But I wanted you to hear it from me that I was in jail. Kyle would have made it sound worse than it was, and I didn't want you to get worried."

"It's a little late for that. I'm already worried for you." Butters said, a small smile growing on his face.

"Yeah, but at least you know I'm alright this way."

That managed to get a laugh out of Butters. "Okay then, is that everything?"

"Pretty much. They'll let me out in a little while, since I'm a minor, so don't be surprised if you see me on the bus stop in a little while."

"Then I guess I'll see you soon." Butters said. "Should I call Kyle right now?"

"Not if you want to get your head bitten off." Kenny said, laughing. "Call him in the morning, okay?"

"Okay."

There was a side conversation on the other line. Kenny came back sounding disappointed.

"My time's up now." He said. "Fuck, I wish I could just keep talking to you. This conversation's the sanest one I've had all night."

Butters hummed in sympathy. "Would you believe it's the sanest one I've had all weekend?"

That made Kenny laugh again. "Can't wait to see you again, Buttercup."

And then there was some more arguing in the background. They barely had the time to say goodbye when the call was ended. Butters hoped that Kenny would be okay over there.

The light switched on overhead. He turned to see his father standing there, arms crossed over his chest.

"Butters, what are you doing up so late? You are grounded, mister!"

"Oh hamburgers." He moaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about this chapter being a little dialogue heavy, but that's what happens when you try to write a phone conversation ^^;


	11. Yearbook

Butters smiled as he set down the thick book down on the table. "It's finally back from the printers, fellas! Since I'm on the yearbook committee, I got an early copy!"

Kyle immediately fell onto the yearbook, flipping page after page to find his picture. "I know I probably look terrible. My mom made me wear that stupid suit and my hair totally frizzed out that day!"

"Calm down dude." Stan said, his eyes widening at the speed that Kyle was flipping. "You probably look great."

Kenny yawned. "Let him wear himself out, Stan. He'll be easier to deal with later."

Kyle finally reached the eleventh grade B section. "Broflovski… Broflovski… oh god. It's worse than I thought."

Butters leaned forward across the table to peek at his yearbook. "I don't think you look bad at all, Kyle."

He rolled his eyes at the shorter male. "Butters, no offense, but you have no eye for fashion. Or anything really."

"None taken." Butters said, oblivious to the implications.

Kenny frowned. "Hey don't be mean to my Buttercup, Kyle."

"He didn't mean it." Stan said, coming to Kyle's defense as usual. "Right?"

"Sure." Kyle said, smiling in his direction. He flipped to the next page and snorted. "Oh my god, look at fatass. At least I took a better picture than him."

Stan rested his chin on Kyle's shoulder, looking at the picture. "I thought he sent in a professionally taken photo?"

Butters had an explanation for that. "He did, but he and Wendy had a huge fight the day we had to send the finished draft to the printers. And as the editor in chief, she had final say so…"

Kenny laughed so hard he banged his hand on the table. "Typical of those two."

Kyle flipped to the M's. "Stan, you look great. And you don't look half bad, Kenny."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Kenny said, no emotion in his voice.

Stan took the yearbook out of Kyle's hands. "I think I was hung over that day. I definitely look like it."

"Nonsense." Kyle said, shaking his head. "You look great in that picture."

Kenny made a kissing sound and Butters giggled. Kyle glared at them.

"Shut up." He said, his cheeks glowing red. He glanced over to see how Stan reacted.

Stan of course, didn't notice. He flipped the page and settled on Butters' picture. "You blinked, Butters."

"What?" He asked, holding his hand open for the yearbook. Stan willingly handed it over and Butters groaned when he saw. "Oh no, I did blink. I'm gonna get grounded for sure."

"Your parents still do that?" Kyle asked. "You're seventeen."

Butters put the yearbook down and mashed his knuckles together. "Oh geez, this isn't good. I promised I wouldn't embarrass them anymore…"

Kenny wrapped his hand around him and pulled him close. "Don't worry about it, Buttercup. I'll keep you company on those long, boring nights."

Butters seemed to melt with relief. "At least I have you."

Kyle huffed irritably. "Give me that, I still want to look at it."

"He's just jealous." Kenny mumbled into Butters hair. "Pay no attention to him, Butters."

Kyle started to look through the other pages, the ones with clubs and class 'bests'. "Look, here's the sports teams."

He was clearly trying to distract them from his feelings, but since Kenny was feeling generous today, he let the subject drop. "How does Stan look in that football group shot?"

"Sweaty." Stan said, wrinkling his nose at the picture. "But I think that might be because I'm standing next to Cartman."

"Ugh, he ruins the picture." Kyle said. He turned the page and grinned. "I look great in this one though."

It was the group shot of the basketball team. Stan pointed at Token. "It's totally cool how Token could play for both your team and my team this year. He's going to take us to State next year."

Kyle turned the page, and suddenly turned as white as a sheet. Stan's eyes widened at whatever they were looking at.

Butters looked concerned. "What's wrong fellas?"

"What is… how did…" Kyle couldn't even complete his sentence.

"Oh god." Stan said, a hint of a smile on his face, like he was trying not to laugh.

Now Kenny was curious. "What is it? I want to see!"

Kyle slammed the book shut. "No. No!" He shot an accusing glare at Butters. "Did you know about this?!"

Butters was confused. "About what, Kyle?'

Kenny grabbed at it. "Let me see it!"

Stan started laughing. Kyle turned his eyes to him, looking hurt. "Don't laugh Stan!"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Kenny pulled it out of Kyle's hands. He flipped to the page where they had been, finding it easily enough. When he saw the picture, he burst out laughing.

"No fucking way! I can't believe they did this!" Kenny barely managed to say, he was laughing so hard.

Butters looked around his group of friends, completely confused. "What is it? Did we mess something up?"

"Yeah, you really did!" Kyle said, his face red from both anger and embarrassment.

Taking the yearbook out of his boyfriend's hands, Butters took a look at what had made them all react so badly. Then he saw it. "Oh…"

It was a picture of Stan and Kyle, with their arms wrapped around each other. Kyle's head was on Stan's shoulder and Stan's head was resting on top of Kyle's. A candid shot. It would have been innocent enough, if the words "Best Couple" hadn't been stenciled above their heads.

"Oh my god." Kenny gasped, holding his side. He was still laughing. "This is the best thing that's ever happened."

"It is NOT!" Kyle yelled at him.

Butters blinked sad blue eyes at him. "I- I'm sorry Kyle. It must have been a joke that the staff was playing a-and they must not have taken it out before we sent it to the printers."

Kyle let his head drop into his hands. "How could anyone think Stan and I are a couple?!"

"Not just any couple." Kenny said, waggling his eyebrows. "You guys are the best couple."

"Shut up Kenny." Stan said, patting Kyle's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry dude, it's not that big of a deal."

"It's a HUGE deal!" Kyle wailed. "Do you know how many people are going to see this? It's humiliating!"

Stan looked hurt. "Is it really that embarrassing, having people think we're dating?"

"Yes… No…" Kyle said, frowning. "What I meant was… It doesn't embarrass you?"

Stan shook his head. "I don't think it's a bad thing, people thinking that. Do you?"

Kyle's face flushed darker. "M-Maybe not."

Kenny looked back and forth between them and grinned. He turned to Butters and whispered in his ear, "Hey, maybe we should give them some space."

"Okay, but why?" Butters whispered back, glancing between the two of them.

"They're about to make that 'Best Couple' thing true." He said, winking. He got up and discreetly motioned for Butters to do the same.

Butters smiled and followed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, implied Style and Candy here! Kenny and Butters are in an established relationship in this one too.


	12. Late

Sometimes, Kenny was glad that everything was within walking distance in South Park.

This was certainly one of those times. It was very lucky that Butters' house wasn't too far from Sally Turner's house. It meant that he wouldn't be dragging a half conscious and very drunk Butters for very long. His arms were already getting tired, and they'd barely gone two blocks from the house.

Getting Butters drunk had sounded like a lot of fun. And it was, for a little while. What Kenny hadn't thought of was the aftermath.

Butters had said he had to be home before dawn, when his parents woke up, and Kenny had promised him he'd get him there. He'd just lost track of time when he and Butters passed out on the couch, and now here he was.

Butters moaned a little. "K-Kenny? Where are we?"

"Good, you're awake." Kenny said, pausing so that Butters could stand up on his own. "Come on, we have to hurry if you're going to get you home in time."

"Hurry? Wh-What for?" Butters mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He was still leaning heavily on Kenny, but he wasn't completely dead weight anymore. "Why are we… why're we outside? It's cold, Kenny."

"I know it's cold. You can get warm in your house." He said, nudging Butters forward. "Come on, the sun's going to be up in a little bit."

"Why're you pushin' me, Ken? It's not nice to push people…" Butters slurred. He stumbled forward, and would have fallen if Kenny hadn't kept an arm around him. "I wanna go back to the party an' have some more of that punch Eric gave me."

Kenny's eyes widened and he stopped trying to get him to move. "You drank something Cartman gave you?!"

Butters nodded, burying his face in Kenny's neck. "It was real sweet, and kinda strong. What d'you think it was, Kenny?"

Knowing Cartman, it could have been anything from a roofie to poison. But Kenny didn't say that. Drunk Butters was one thing, but panicked and drunk Butters? He wasn't looking forward to that. Instead he said, "Probably something too strong for you."

Butters looked up at him with dazed eyes. "I feel like dancin' right now. What happened to the music? Party's always have music…"

"Butters, we left the party, remember?" Kenny shifted his hold on him and stepped forward. "We have to get you home."

"Oh, home." Butters looked like he was becoming more conscious. "I- I said earlier… If my parents don't see me in bed in the mornin', I'll get grounded."

"Right. That's why we got to hurry." Kenny said. He was relieved when Butters started walking forward, leaning on him only a little. He had to keep his arm around him, to keep Butters steady, but it was a lot easier now that he wasn't dragging mostly dead weight around.

Butters had been very quiet for a while now, which was odd, because Butters was the king of small talk. Kenny looked over at him and was surprised to see Butters' face shiny with sweat and very pale. His eyes were unfocused, and he looked like he was in pain. Kenny stopped walking, a wave of worry going through him. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I don't feel so good." Butters said, his voice tiny. "I think… I think I'm gonna be—"

His sentence was cut off by a gag. Butters sank to his knees, dragging Kenny down with him in the process.

"Butters!" Kenny said, his eyes going wide. "What's wrong?"

Butters gagged again, and turned his head away just as he threw up everything that was in his stomach.

Kenny grimaced, but he didn't move away. He brushed away the sweaty hair from Butters' eyes and rubbed soothing circles into his back while he continued to puke onto the sidewalk. After about a minute or so, the retching died down to some dry heaves.

"That's it, let it all out." Kenny murmured, patting Butters' back. "You're almost done."

There was stil a little more gagging, but there was nothing else inside for Butters to throw up. He spit to get the taste out of his mouth and moaned.

"Feel any better?" Kenny asked. Butters wiped his mouth with the corner of his sleeve and nodded.

"I'm feelin' a little better than before." He whispered. He cleared his throat a little. "Thanks for stickin' by me though that."

"You did the same for me, remember?" Kenny helped him get on his feet.

"I did?" Butters asked, letting Kenny steer him away from the vomit. They moved forward, as they had been before that little incident. "When was that?"

"Fourth grade. It was when I got addicted to cheesing. You let my puke splash all over you."

Butters made a little gagging noise. "Please don't mention puke, Kenny."

"Sorry." Kenny said, smiling a little. "The point is, you took care of me then, so why wouldn't I take care of you now?"

"That's awful nice of you to say, Kenny." Butters said, giving him a fragile, but sincere, smile.

"How much did you have to drink anyways?" Kenny asked. They were almost on the block that Butters' house was on.

"Um, not as much as you had. It was about as much the rest of the guys had." He furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "I think I started drinkin' around eleven though."

Kenny's eyes widened. "Oh my god. How are you even conscious right now?"

"What do you mean?" Butters asked, looking adorably confused.

"It's just… we drank a lot tonight. And you kept up with us?" He asked, looking at Butters in awe.

"I had as much as Kyle did." Butters said, rubbing his eyes. "Are we almost home?"

Kenny looked up. Just a few houses away was the Stotch residence. "Yeah, we're almost there already."

"That's good. I'm real tired." Butters yawned. "Hey, Kenny?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for takin’ such good care of me." He said, nuzzling Kenny's neck in a way that he would not have been doing if he were sober. Kenny swallowed hard and kept moving forward.

"It's no problem. I'd take care of you any day." He said. He realized his words could be taken in another direction entirely and quickly said, "You know, like this."

Butters nodded absently, looking like he was ready to drop any minute. The first streaks of light were starting to show, turning the sky from dark blue to light grey, so Kenny picked up the pace a little.

Once thing was certain: he wasn't going to let anyone get Butters drunk again anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody besides me have a thing about that cute little accent Butters has? XD


	13. Bruise

It was one of those rare warm days in South Park. On those days, Kenny always let his hood down. He didn't take of his parka, not even in the summer, but if the sun was shining bright enough he let his face out.

At least he usually did.

It was warm enough that it would have looked suspicious if he DIDN'T take the hood off, but the guys hardly paid any attention to him. All too busy with their own lives to notice a change in Kenny's behavior. And why should they? He certainly looked normal with his hood up. There was no reason to notice him.

He stayed off to the end of the group as Cartman made another 'jew' joke that Kyle took way too seriously. Stan was always the peacemaker, or in Kenny's opinion, referee, in these situations, so that left little for him to do except watch as they went for round nine million eighty four in the eternal struggle that was Cartman and Kyle. If it was up to him, he'd just tell them to fuck and get the sexual tension over with, but what were the chances that they'd actually hear him over their fighting, let alone take his advice?

He didn't care that they pretty much ignored him. At least they showed some concern when he was gone for long periods of time. Some. He just wished that sometimes they were a little more interested in the things he was hiding.

"Hey, Kenny! How are you this morning?"

Speaking of someone who showed interest…

"Hey Butters." He said, turning to greet the shorter blond. "I'm fine, you?'

Butters looked over to the other three. "I'm doing great, but they sure don't look like it."

Kenny rolled his eyes. "They live and breathe for this, Butters. Don't think they're not enjoying themselves."

"I don't think they understand what joy truly is…" He trailed off, noticing that he was wearing his hood up. "How come you're wearing your hood up, Ken? It's really warm outside today."

He trailed his eyes lazily over Butters's outfit. A thin T-shirt and comfortable looking jeans. "I don't know, it's still kinda cool out, don't you think?"

Butters shook his head. "You must be baking in that parka. Here, let me—"

"No don't!" Kenny ducked under his reaching hands. A look of hurt crossed his face and he felt a twinge of guilt. "Sorry, but I don't want to take my hood off."

"Why not?" He asked. Geez, even his voice sounded hurt.

He didn't let himself look into those light blue eyes, a couple of shades lighter than his own. "I just don't okay? Leave it alone."

"Don't you trust me?" Butters asked, his hands moving together. "I mean, it's alright if you don't I just thought… I just thought that…"

Kenny sighed and pulled his hands apart. "I do trust you, Butters. I don't want to take it off because you'll just make a big deal out of it when it's really nothing to even think about."

"But what is it though?" Butters asked, moving his hand to Kenny's hood again. This time Kenny didn't move to stop him, figuring it was best to get it over with. He still flinched when he heard Butters gasp at the sight of his face.

"What happened, Kenny?" He asked, moving his hand over his right eye. Butters didn't touch him, but just looking at his hovering fingers made him want to wince.

"It looks worse than it actually is." He was quick to say.

"Well it looks really bad." Butters said, gently tracing the fist sized bruise with his fingers. He made sure not to put too much pressure on the purple skin. "Did something happen at home?"

His answer was almost immediate. "No."

Butters didn't look convinced. "Then how did you get this bruise?"

"It doesn't matter." He said, brushing his hand away. "It's nothing to concern yourself with."

Butters frowned at him. "Now that's where you're wrong, Kenny McCormick. I'm very concerned, and I have every right to be."

He looked into his eyes for a good minute before asking, "Really?"

Butters nodded. "I'm your friend Kenny, and if you ever need help or just someone to talk to, I'm right here with my ears open and ready to listen."

Kenny couldn't help laughing. "You're such a dork."

"Maybe, but this dork will never let you down okay?"

The smile that came on his face was genuine this time. "Thanks Butters."

There was a scream and they turned to look at Kyle nearly kicking Cartman in the balls. The only thing that prevented it from happening was Stan, who managed to pull him away just as the swing would have made contact. Cartman started swearing up and down how Kyle was going to pay for it, and nearly started crying for his mom.

Kenny rolled his eyes and nudged Butters. "Can you believe these guys?"

"No even a little bit." He said, and Kenny had to laugh again, because such a deadpan remark coming from Butters? It was almost too much.

Sure, the guys were his best friends, and he'd risk his life in a heartbeat for them. But Butters was different, special. It didn't matter how, not right now, but maybe it would in the future.

He was going to have to prepare himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of implied Kyman through Kenny's thoughts... Ignore or embrace it as you chose, it's only a line long. Sorry for the ending too, it's so cheesy XP


	14. Shoplifting

Butters ran his fingers over the colorful bottles of nail polish, knowing he didn't have enough money to buy any of them. He glanced over at the cashier, who was too busy filing her nails to be paying attention to him. She wouldn't notice, but… he looked over to the exit, where the security guard was. That man's eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Butters would have to be very sneaky if he wanted to pull this off.

The moment the man's head turned to see another customer enter was the moment he discreetly put a bottle into his pocket. His hand had just come back at his side when the man looked back at him. Butters let his eyes fall back down to the little bottles in front of him, his heart hammering in his chest. He couldn't look too suspicious.

He could feel the security guard's stare on him, but he made sure his features remained innocent. He knew that it must look weird, a boy was lingering in the beauty products aisle. But, the man's eyes weren't on him anymore, he was looking at someone behind him.

"Hey Butters."

"Oh hamburgers!" Was that someone he knew? Or had he gotten caught? Butters whirled around, feeling his heart beat wildly in his chest.

Kenny raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

Butters breathed a sigh of relief. "O-Oh, it's just you Kenny."

"'Just me?' Ouch, nice to know where I rank in importance." Kenny said, clutching his heart in mock hurt. "I thought I mattered a little more important to you than that, but it's nice to know how you really feel."

Butters' eyes widened. "Of course you matter, Kenny! I'm sorry I hurt your feelings."

Kenny rolled his eyes and grinned at him. "I wasn't being serious you know."

"Oh." Butters looked down at his shoes. "I guess I'm still not that good at detecting sarcasm."

"Hey, none of that." Kenny said as took Butters' chin in his hand and tilted it up. "Don't get so down about something like that."

Butters felt his face heat up (just a little!) and he nodded. "O-Okay."

Kenny looked around. "What are you doing in this aisle?"

Oh right, he was still in the feminine department. "Um, I'm just buying something for Bebe."

"Again? I see you in here every day." Kenny said, his eyebrows raised.

"Y-Yeah, I like buying stuff for my friends. It makes me feel useful." He could hear the lies so obviously in his own voice, he wondered if Kenny could hear them too. "What… um, what are you doing here today?"

Kenny sighed, long and dramatic. "I'm buying this stuff for Karen. It's almost her birthday and she's been hinting that she wants to start wearing makeup."

"Oh, that sure is nice of you." Butters said, glad that the conversation was off of him now.

"It doesn't feel nice." Kenny said. If Butters didn't know any better, he'd say that Kenny was pouting. "This means that she's really growing up."

"Growing up is a good thing." Butters said. "She can't be little forever."

Kenny's eyes flickered to the products in the aisle. "I wish she would be though. That way I wouldn't have to worry about her more than I already am."

Butters smiled. "That's sweet."

"Hm?" Kenny looked up from the bottle of nail polish he'd just picked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's nice that you're so worried about her. I'm sure she appreciates it." Butters tilted his head up so that he could look into Kenny's eyes. "Don't you think so?"

"I guess…" Kenny mumbled, still looking unhappy.

"Good, now go buy her what she'll need." he said, turning back to the nail polish bottles. There were so many pretty colors. That glittery one would look great with that new skirt Bebe had got for him last Chrismas.

Butters didn't realize what he was doing until Kenny's eyes focused sharply on his pocket. "Butters, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" He looked down and saw that he had just put another bottle in his pocket. "N-Nothing."

Kenny grabbed his hand and pulled it out of his pocket. He stared at the bottle for a long time before looking back at Butters. "You're stealing things now?"

"I… I'm not." Butters said, shaking his head. He didn't know why he was still lying, now that he'd been caught, other than he couldn't help himself. He hoped that Kenny wouldn't find the other one in his left pocket.

"Then tell me what this is." Kenny said, holding out the sparkly nail polish.

Butters felt his face heat up. "I don't know."

Kenny sighed and put the bottle back where it had been before Butters had taken it. "You aren't the type of person who steals things. How long have you been doing it?"

"Not… not too long." Butters said, glancing over at the security guard. He wasn't paying attention to at that moment, for which he was grateful.

"How long?"

"About six months?" Butters said, really thinking about it. He'd started before the school year had begun, so it had been almost six months.

Kenny cursed under his breath. "All that time? What kinds of things have you been stealing?"

"Just little things." He said, eyeing the bottles. "Nail polish, hair clips, eye liner. Girl things."

Kenny's eyebrows raised. "Have they all been for Bebe?"

Butters shook his head. "No, I've been using them. You know, when my parents aren't home and I have the time."

Kenny ran a hand through his hair. "And why have you been doing this?"

"I can't really… I don't know how to explain it." He said, fidgeting under Kenny's intense stare.

"Could you at least try?" Kenny asked.

Butters took a deep breath to steady himself. "When I take something and I don't pay for it, it makes me feel excited. Like, the thought that I might get caught and then when I get away with it, it's the best. I like the feeling of it, you know? It makes me feel really good."

Kenny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, a trait he'd inherited from Stan. "I can't believe this."

"Why?" He asked, feeling a little offended.

"This isn't you, Butters." He said, letting go of his hand. "You of all people don't do things like stealing from the mall stores."

"Well, I'm doing it." Butters said, frowning. "Don't try to make me stop, okay? 'Cause I don't want to stop."

Kenny frowned right back at him. "I'm not a snitch."

"Okay." Butters crossed his arms over his chest. They stared at each other for a little while until Kenny broke eye contact first.

"Come on then. Kenny said, taking his arm and dragging them out of the store. "You can keep stealing but not while I'm around."

"Not so loud!" Butters said, casting a worried glance over at the guard. He was looking at them now, his gaze letting him know that he was very suspicious of them.

"Fine." Kenny kept his mouth shut until they were leaving the store.

Then the alarm started to go off.

Butters looked around wildly. An alarm? When had the installed an alarm here? This store had never had an alarm before, that was the reason he kept coming back to it.

"You have something else?" Kenny asked, looking at him with wide eyes. Butters nodded. "Where?"

The security guard was coming towards them. "In my left pocket. Oh hamburgers, I'm going to be so grounded."

Butters felt like he was on the verge of tears. He was shocked to feel Kenny's hand go in his left pocket, so discreetly that the approaching security guard didn't even notice.

"What's this then?" He asked the two of them, his eyes immediately going to Butters. "Seems I've caught myself a couple of shoplifters."

"Just one." Kenny said, stepping forward.

The man lifted an eyebrow. "Haven't seen you prowling around my store recently. This one thought," His gaze was so sharp when it landed on Butters that he flinched. "I've seen him around plenty."

"Check his pockets." Kenny said, stuffing his hands in his own. "He's not going to have anything."

"Kenny, I—"

"Show him your pockets, Butters." Kenny said, cutting him off. Butters silently obeyed, turning his pockets inside out. Empty.

The security guard looked puzzled, but quickly turned to Kenny. "Empty your pockets."

Kenny did and revealed the light blue nail polish Butters had grabbed earlier, the one he'd just taken from him. "Looks like you've caught me, mister."

"Well… well then, I have to take you in then." The security guard said, recovering from his shock quickly enough. He grabbed a hold on Kenny's upper arm. "You're coming with me."

"If you say so." Kenny said, turning his head towards Butters and winking at him. "Good thing you didn't accuse the wrong person, right?"

Butters couldn't believe it. Kenny was taking the fall for this. Taking the fall for him.

Why would he do that?

"I'm so sorry I got you sent to mall jail!" Butters said, for what had to be the fifteenth time since they let Kenny out.

Kenny shrugged. "It was a lot nicer than regular jail, at least."

Butters shook his head. They were walking out of the mall, Kenny now banned for life. "You shouldn't have been in there though. I shouldn't have let you do that for me."

"I wasn't about to let you get into trouble for shoplifting." Kenny said. "I don't think you would have ever been allowed out of your room if your parents found out."

Butters shuddered to think of the punishment he would have gotten. "I would have been grounded for years."

"That's why I did it." Kenny smiled down at him. "My parents don't give a crap what kind of trouble I get into. I think they'll be kind of pleased that I'm finally acting like a McCormick."

Butters frowned. "That's an awful way to be thinking, Kenny."

He shrugged again, as if it wasn't a big deal. "It's just how it is."

"I'm really sorry, Kenny." Butters said, feeling ashamed of himself. "This was all my fault."

"I already told you Butters," Kenny started. "I wasn't going to let you get caught. I made the choice to take the blame for this."

"But why did you do it?" Butters asked, wishing he could understand the reasoning behind Kenny's actions. "I don't know why you would do that for me."

Kenny didn't say anything, which only made Butters feel worse. He probably realized that he did something stupid by taking the fall, and now he was going to go back into the security station and tell them how it had all been Butters' fault, and that he was innocent of everything. Butters definitely deserved it for being such a bad friend and—

"I did it because we're friends." Kenny said, snapping Butters out of his thoughts. "And because I like you."

"Huh?" Butters asked, completely caught off guard. He even stopped walking, he was so taken aback.

Kenny kept his feet on the ground and kept walking. "You heard me."

Butters regained enough sense to start walking again. "But… but what do you mean by that Kenny? Wh-Why would that be the reason you did that?"

Kenny sighed, stopping so abruptly that Butters kept walking a few feet forward until he realized that Kenny wasn't at his side.

"Are you really that oblivious?" He asked, looking at Butters in a way that made him feel a little embarrassed.

"I don't know." Butters said, confused.

Kenny stepped forward and pressed his lips to Butters'. It was brief, but Butters was still completely stunned by the action.

"That's why." Kenny said.

"Oh…" It suddenly made sense to him now. Still, it didn't make Butters feel any better about getting him in trouble. "But… but that doesn't make it okay! I shouldn't have let you get in trouble and—"

Kenny put his hand over Butters' mouth. "No more of that. It happened, and it's over. I don't regret taking the blame, okay?"

Butters nodded, feeling his cheeks heat up. "It won't happen again. I promise I won't steal anything ever again."

"What happened to not wanting to stop?" Kenny asked, a sly grin on his face.

"You made me want to stop." Butters said, pulling Kenny's hand down to reveal his smile.

Kenny laughed. He leaned in and kissed him gently. "Good. It's embarrassing getting caught stealing nail polish."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oblivious Butters is my favorite kind of Butters~ I suppose you could connect this one to Chapter 8 if you want to.


	15. Fright

It was Cartman's idea to go to the haunted house.

"Come on guys, it'll be so sweet!" He whined to four guys in front of him, glancing back at the supposedly menacing building. "Let's go in there next!"

"Those places are always lame." Stan said, looking at the building with bored eyes.

"Nuh-uh, they're really cool, you'll see!" Cartman said, already walking towards the building.

Butters mashed his knuckles together nervously. "I-I don't know, Eric. Maybe we should go somewhere else first…"

"Stop being such a fag, Butters." Cartman said, shoving the shorter boy forward. Butters hadn't been expecting the push and ended up on the ground.

"Lay off, Cartman." Kenny said. He walked over to his fellow blond and offered him a hand. "You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Butters answered, taking Kenny's hand and standing up. "I just got my hands a little dirty."

"Let's go already!" Cartman said, stamping his foot like a kid.

"I don't want to waste my money on that stupid thing." Kyle said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Surprise, surprise, a jew who doesn't want to spend money." Cartman said, sneering at the redhead. "I should have expected as much from you, Kahl."

"Stop insulting my faith, fatass!" Kyle yelled, taking a step toward him. Stan grabbed his shoulder to keep him from lashing out.

"Or maybe you're just too much of a pussy to go on this ride, is that it?" Cartman laughed like it was a big joke. "Maybe you'd rather make out with Stan on the Ferris Wheel."

"Shut up, Cartman!" Kyle yelled, lunging forward with both fists flying.

"Calm down, Kyle!" Stan said, now using both arms to restrain him.

"Maybe we should help…" Butters said, looking at Kenny for support. Kenny shook his head, keeping a safe distance from the fight.

"I don't want to get anywhere near Kyle's fists of fury." He said, wincing when Kyle accidentally swung too far back and got Stan under his chin. It was enough to make him loosen his grip and let Kyle come flying at Cartman with everything he had. There was a brief scuffle, and Kyle got a few good hits in before Stan grabbed him by the waist and dragged him away, still kicking and screaming insults.

"Aye, fuck you asshole!" Cartman yelled, clutching at his shoulder. He noticed Kenny and Butters staring at him and flipped them off. "Well, what the hell are you two staring at? Let's go!"

"Go where?" Butters asked, flinching when Cartman's angry stare fell on him.

"To the fucking haunted house!" Cartman yelled, stalking over to the building. Butters glanced at Kenny, who shrugged and walked forward. Butters hastily followed the two of them.

"I'm not so sure about this place." Butters whispered as he handed the ticket taker the four tickets needed to get in.

"Why, are you scared?" Kenny asked. Cartman hadn't bothered to wait for them, and already they could hear his shouts of 'This-is-sooo-scary-you-guys!' inside the building.

"No!" Butters exclaimed, staring at the weakly lit hallway. Kenny raised his eyebrows and Butters walked forward cautiously.

"If you're scared, just say so." Kenny said, keeping right next to Butters. "I won't tease you."

"I-I'm not scared!" Butters insisted, walking a little faster to try and prove his point. Kenny picked up his pace a little to keep next to his friend.

"Well, I'm right here if you do get scared, okay?" Kenny said, flashing him a smile. Butters didn't see it though, because at that moment the dim lights went out. He heard Butters gasp next to him.

"Kenny?" His voice sounded small.

"I'm here." Kenny said, finding his hand in the dark and giving it a little squeeze. Butters squeezed back, and Kenny felt himself smiling at the feeling.

The entire hallway was suddenly bathed in a red light. There was a menacing-looking figure at the end of the hall just standing there, facing them. If it had eyes, Kenny would say it was staring at them.

"K-Kenny?" Butters asked. He was staring at the figure with wide eyes. "M-Maybe I'm a-a little scared."

"Of that thing?" Kenny looked at the unusually tall person. "It's probably just someone in a costume, Butters. Come on, let's keep going."

Butters let out a little moan as they walked closer to the figure. It stood perfectly still, watching them as they came closer. Kenny stopped an arm's length away from him, tilting his head when the person didn't move out of their way. Butters stayed a step behind him, keeping a firm grip on Kenny's hand.

"Hello?" Kenny asked, waving his free hand in front of him. "Are you supposed to be scaring us? You're doing a pretty bad job, dude."

"S-Speak for y-yourself." Butters said, keeping his eyes away from the faceless creature in front of them.

It turned its head towards Butters at his words. Butters flinched closer to Kenny's side, a feeling of dread growing in his stomach. He closed his eyes pressed his face to Kenny's shoulder. "I don't like this."

Kenny stared at the thing for a few more seconds before shaking his head. "Come on, Butters, this guy's lame."

He started to walk forward, but Butters didn't move. He turned to look at the shorter blond, but he barely caught a glimpse of him when the lights went out again. He felt something long and thin wrap around his throat. "What the fuck—"

"No! No, please!" He heard Butters cry. His vice-like grip on Kenny's hand was suddenly gone, leaving Kenny grabbing at air. Whatever had been at his throat was gone too.

"Butters?" He called into the darkness. "Butters!"

He got no response, aside from a whimper of fear.

"Hey, this isn't funny!" Kenny said, turning his head in all directions.

He heard footsteps going away from him and quickly followed them. There was a weird ringing in his ears as he did so, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He kept an arm outstretched as he kept walking.

His hand brushed up against a soft fabric and he held onto it fast. "Butters?"

"Kenny!" Came Butters' panicked voice. He felt a hand wrap around his wrist. "It-it won't let me go!"

"What?!" Kenny asked, worry starting to color his tone. He felt something at his throat again, but this time there was some pressure to its presence.

"Kenny I'm scared!" Butters sounded close to tears. "I-It's got my legs a-and my waist—Oh god!" Butters' grip became bone-crushingly tight.

"Butters, what's happening?!" Kenny yelled, bringing his other hand up to grab the thing at his throat.

The lights suddenly flashed bright, letting Kenny see the thing before them. He heard Butters screaming bloody murder, but it barely registered as his mind tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

Tentacles. There were tentacles everywhere, coming from the… the thing in front of them. There were about ten wrapped around Butters, and there was a thicker one around Kenny's neck. It tightened and for one horrible second, everything stopped. The thing looked between the two of them, and Kenny swore it smirked at him or something. Then the lights went out for the last time and suddenly he couldn't feel anything around his neck anymore.

The dim lights came back on and there was no one in the empty hall but the two of them.

Kenny turned his bewildered eyes towards Butters. "Did… did you see—?" He was cut off by Butters' arms wrapping around him.

"I want to get out of here!" Butters wailed, burying his face in Kenny's chest.

Kenny blinked at their position, surprised at first, but quickly snapped out of it and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and went back the way they came. He didn't care about the looks they got , god knew what was further in.

Outside, the sun was starting to set, but it was still bright enough to let them feel a hell of a lot safer.

After a few minutes of just standing and attempting to control their breathing, Butters spoke up first.

"What… What do you think that thing was?" He asked, his voice still a little shaky.

"I have no clue." Kenny answered, running his left hand through his hair. He still hadn't dropped his right arm from Butters' shoulders. "But I know it wasn't some guy in a costume."

Butters mashed his knuckles together and glanced around nervously. "D-Do you think it'll follow us out here?"

"God, I hope not." Kenny said, glancing around the immediate area like Butters did. "I'd like to go one day without dying." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." Kenny said, noticing Cartman exiting the Haunted House. "Hey look, there's Cartman."

"Do you think he saw that thing in there?" Butters asked.

"I doubt it. He doesn't look freaked out." Kenny said, dropping the arm around Butters. "Then again, the things that freak normal people out are usually caused by him."

"Where were you two fags?" Cartman said by way of greeting.

"Hello, Cartman, it's good to see you too." Kenny answered, flipping him off.

"Eric, did you see anything weird in there?" Butters asked, eyebrows knitted as he mashed his knuckles together some more.

Cartman raised an eyebrow. "Besides the awesome horror that is a haunted house? No."

"Oh…" Butters said. His expression was a mix of relief and disappointment. Relief, because that creature wasn't harming anybody else, but disappointment because now he and Kenny were the only ones who knew about it. "Well then, I guess we better go find Stan and Kyle then."

"We don't have to." Kenny said, nodding to their left. Sure enough, there they were, walking towards their group of three.

"Where the fuck were you guys?" Cartman said, irritation coloring his tone. It seemed he still wasn't over the earlier incident.

"We were at the Ferris—" Stan began, but was quickly cut off by Kyle.

"Don't tell them Stan!"

"The Ferris Wheel?! Ahahaha!" Cartman cackled. "I knew that's where you two would end up! Ahahaha!"

"Shut the hell up, fatass!" Kyle cried, raising his fists. Stan immediately grabbed his arms and tried to calm him down.

Kenny looked at the scene, feeling oddly comforted by the familiarity of it. "Hey Butters?"

"Yeah, Kenny?" He asked, his expression mirroring Kenny's.

"No matter what happened in there, it doesn't seem so bad with these guys around, does it?"

"I know what you mean." Butters said as Kyle fought to get out of Stan's grip. "I'm not afraid watching these guys again."

"I think Stan and Kyle had the right idea going to the Ferris Wheel. Wanna ride that one next?" Kenny asked.

"Sure!" Butters said, and the smile he gave made Kenny feel better about grabbing his hand as they walked forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was originally supposed to be a Halloween story. Bonus points to you if you can correctly name the thing that was in the Haunted House~


	16. Tease

Kenny watched with amused eyes as Kyle ran back and forth across Stan's bedroom, picking things up, tossing them at the bed where Stan was lying, muttering a string of profanities under his breath. It was like watching a Chihuahua running around while hopped up on Red Bull. Not that he'd ever given a Chihuahua Red Bull…

He nudged Butters, who was sitting on his lap, pointing at the frenzied red head. "I think he's finally lost it, Buttercup. Do you want to be the one to call the mental hospital, or should I do it?"

"Kenny, don't be mean." Butters said, frowning at his boyfriend.

"Yeah Kenny, Kyle's really stressed right now." Stan agreed with him. A dirty light blue shirt that Kyle tossed over his shoulder landed on his face.

Kenny shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's just graduation."

"Just graduation?!" Kyle exclaimed, pausing in his frantic search through Stan's room to glare at the offending blond. "Are you kidding me, Kenny? It's the biggest event of our lives! You should be taking this more seriously. You all should be!" He said to his remaining audience, his tone accusatory.

"We are, Kyle." Stan murmured, reaching up to remove the shirt still on his face. "You shouldn't freak out so much though."

Butters nodded. "It's okay to relax for a little while."

"I would love to relax Butters, only I have to be the one to find something suitable for Stan to wear since he absolutely refuses to do it himself." Kyle said, plastering on a fake smile. "He doesn't think it's a big deal, you see."

Stan sat upright, shrugging his shoulders. "Anything I wear is going to be covered by the graduation robe anyway. I just don't see the point."

"Don't see the point." Kyle echoed, laughing mirthlessly. "Well excuse me for wanting a nicely dressed boyfriend at graduation. Here, put this on." He said, tossing a white shirt and tie over to him before going into Stan's closet.

Kenny buried his face in Butters' shoulder, hiding his smile. "Damn, he was never this uppity back when we were juniors."

"I heard that Kenny." Kyle said, from the confines of the closet.

"You were supposed to!" Kenny retorted. "I admire you Stan, for being able to put up with him."

"It's only been like for the last few weeks. He'll be back to normal after tonight." Stan said, his tone assuring them that he was completely certain about this. He took off his Terrance and Phillip t-shirt and put on the button up one Kyle had thrown at him.

Butters covered his eyes politely while Kenny took the opportunity to ogle his friend. He squeezed his boyfriend's waist teasingly. "Don't be so shy, Butters."

"Kenny!" Butters squeaked, wriggling nervously in his grip. Kenny grinned and ran his hands up and down his sides, knowing how ticklish Butters was. He ignored Butters' pleas to stop, enjoying himself too much. It turned out that was a bad idea though, when Butters accidentally elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ow." He winced, his hands suddenly letting go in favor of his injury.

"Oh, I'm really sorry!" Butters cried, getting off of him quickly. He kneeled down and took Kenny's face in his hands. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Kenny!"

He grinned down at him. "I know you didn't, Buttercup. It's okay, I'm fine."

Butters smiled. "That's good to hear." He pulled down Kenny's face and gave him a chaste kiss that Kenny quickly deepened. He let out a soft moan when Kenny slipped his tongue past his lips, making Kenny more enthusiastic in his movements.

"Ahem, still in the room guys." Stan said, sounding uncomfortable.

Butters immediately pulled back, his cheeks pink from embarrassment. "S-Sorry, Stan."

"Cockblocker." Kenny muttered, sending a half-hearted glare in Stan's direction. Apparently he'd finished putting on the shirt and was working on the tie.

"Right back at you." Stan said, flipping him off.

Kyle walked back into the room then, holding a pair of relatively clean black slacks. He rolled his eyes at the two blonds. "If you're going to start fucking, at least don't do it in the same room as us."

"W-We aren't doing anything like that." Butters said, hurrying to his feet. Kenny wasn't having any of that and pulled him into his lap again.

"Don't pay them any attention, Butters. They're just jealous they can't be as shameless about public displays of affection like we are." Kenny said, wrapping his arms around him.

"Shameless is right." Kyle mumbled under his breath. He turned to Stan and frowned when he saw the state of his clothes. "Stan, you wrinkled the shirt!"

Stan held out his sleeves, having finished with the tie already. "I think it was like this when you gave it to me."

Kyle shook his head, sending his (recently styled) curls flying. "No, I didn't. And put your tie on straight!"

Stan looked down and raised an eyebrow. "It is on straight."

"Look, just let me fix it, okay?" Kyle said, reaching over and undoing the knot that Stan had tied.

"Wow, he's more overbearing than Wendy ever was." Kenny said, almost in awe at the scene before him.

Even Butters was surprised. "It's almost as if he's…"

"Stan's annoying wife?" Kenny finished, a slow grin forming on his face. "Oh, definitely."

Kyle turned on them, completely forgetting the task he'd started. "What did you say?"

Kenny didn't stop grinning as he repeated himself. "You're Stan's annoying wife."

The dark red color that flushed to Kyle's face was almost the same shade as his hair. "I'm not Stan's annoying wife, Kenny!"

"Not yet." Kenny said, matter of factly. He turned his eyes to Butters. "Don't you think so?"

"Maybe a little." Butters said, a sweet smile on his face. Kenny couldn't help kissing him again.

"I'm not Stan's annoying wife, you hear me?" Kyle said, frustrated. He stamped his foot on the ground to emphasize his point. "I'm not!"

"Dude, you kind of are." Stan said, biting his lip to hide the smile that was forming on his face. "Minus the annoying part, of course."

Kyle frowned at him. "That doesn't help at all, Stan!"

"Aw, don't take it in a bad way, Kyle!" Butters said, pulling his face away from Kenny so he could make his friend feel better. "It's kind of like a compliment, you know?"

Everyone in the room looked at him like he was crazy, so he hurried to elaborate. "I mean, Kenny shouldn't have been adding that you're annoying, of course. But I'm sure he just means that you two are a really great match! Right Kenny?"

"Uh, actually—"

"See, he really means it!" Butters said, cutting Kenny off.

"We are a great match, Kyle." Stan said, grinning at him.

Kyle was clearly trying to stay mad at them for teasing him so much, but he was a big sucker for flattery, and he found that he didn't have the energy to remain angry at them anymore. "I guess so... Stan, where's your blazer?"

"Uh, under my bed somewhere." Stan said, tilting his head as if remembering. "At least that's where I let it drop from the last time."

"What?" Kyle asked. He knelt down next to the bed and started reaching around there. "You didn't take it to the dry cleaner's did you? I told you last week to take it in and—"

Kenny rolled his eyes and sighed. "Butters, can we wait outside? I'd rather be make out with you than listening to Mrs. Marshlovski drone on and on about her husband."

"That isn't a very nice thing to say—"

"STAN!" Kyle screamed, holding up the blazer he'd been looking for. It was wrinkled worse than the shirt. "How could you let it get to this state?!"

"Please?" Kenny asked, pressing his face against Butters' hair.

Butters bit his lip and nodded. Even he didn't want to be around for the lecture that Kyle was sure to deliver. "I-I guess a little time away would be okay."

"Alright! Later guys, we're going to go make out for a while!" Kenny said, standing up and dragging Butters out the door with him.

"Stay safe!" Kyle called after them. "And don't forget that the ceremony starts at four!"

"Got it, mom!" Kenny called back, grinning when he heard Kyle's outraged cry of 'Who are you calling mom?!' behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's got established Bunny and Style. Honestly, I just wanted to write Kenny calling Kyle 'mom' XD


	17. Bridge

It was almost completely silent inside the car as Kenny steered the vehicle to the side of the road. If not for the steady rhythm of Butters' breathing, he might have believed he was alone in here. Turning off the engine, Kenny waited for the younger blond to open the passenger door and get out of the car. After all, they hadn't driven all this way to just sit here. But Butters didn't move, not towards the door, not towards him.

Not knowing what to do, Kenny just sat there with him, wondering if it wasn't such a good idea to drive him eighteen miles without knowing the reason why. After a while, he couldn't take the silence anymore. He kept his eyes forward as he asked, "Are you sure this is where you wanted me to drive you, Butters?"

"Yes." He said, but still he didn't move. Kenny waited for him to say something more, counting out exactly sixty seconds in his head, before Butters finally spoke again. "Do… do you think you could come with me?"

He turned to really look at Butters for the first time since they'd gotten into the car. The frown on his face looked out of place on his normally cheerful self. His light blue eyes were looking away, at the bridge that was only a few feet ahead of them. They looked so sad, yet determined that Kenny felt himself nodding before he actually decided that he would follow him, no matter where he wanted him to go.

The small upward curve of Butters' lips might have been a smile, if it had reached his eyes. "Thank you, Kenny."

It was cold outside of the car, not that that was anything new to either of them. A sharp gust of wind made Kenny shiver and pull the strings of his hood tighter to block it out. Butters didn't seem to be affected though, leaving his jacket unzipped as he walked forward. Kenny followed him, his long legs easily keeping him in step with him.

Looking around, there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about this place. Besides the long bridge overlooking a raging river ahead of them, the landscape that surrounded them seemed pretty bleak. There weren't any houses around, so the trees were relatively untouched. If Kenny concentrated, he could hear the sounds of a few animals nearby.

Butters seemed to drag his feet the closer they got to the bridge. Just before they stepped on it, he paused and took a deep breath. He muttered something too low for Kenny to hear, though he was sure that he heard the words 'not ready' somewhere, and continued walking forward.

"You okay?" He asked, concern clear in his tone.

Butters didn't tear his eyes from the scene in front of them. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

That wasn't very easy to do, considering how out of character he was being. Butters hadn't even told him why they were here yet. He'd just come up to him this morning and asked Kenny to drive him to this bridge and to please not ask any questions. He'd never even heard of this place until Butters told him about it, but the look in Butters' eyes when he told him that bothered him so much that he'd agreed with no questions asked. It must have been that messiah complex Kyle had supposedly diagnosed him with years ago.

Butters didn't stop until they were at about the center point of the bridge. Beneath them, the water rushed by at an unnerving speed. Memories of cold, murky water filling his lungs as he struggled to reach the surface came uninvited into Kenny's mind, making him shudder. If the fall didn't kill you, the water definitely would, and he still wasn't sure which was worse. Why the hell would Butters want to come to a place like this?

Butters walked as far as the bridge would safely allow him to the edge. Kenny had to resist the urge to pull him away from there. He was pretty sure that Butters knew what he was doing, though if he didn't at least he was close enough to save him, if it came to that. But he stayed where he was, trusting Butters' judgement.

Butters seemed to forget all about him as he looked over the edge at the rushing water. He brought his hands up, as if reaching out to hold something in the air that Kenny couldn't see. He held that pose for a moment, and Kenny wondered what he was thinking about. Then, in a move that severely confused him, Butters took of his jacket and threw it over the edge. It was such a strange move that Kenny had no idea how to react. He watched Butters watch the jacket slowly float down, one arm lifted up as if reaching for him, before it finally landed in the water and was swept away in the current.

He wanted to ask Butters why in the world would he do something like that. He was only wearing a thin looking t-shirt underneath, and already he could see goosebumps rising on his exposed arms. He opened his mouth to voice his concerns when Butters spoke. 

"My friend died here, you know." Butters said, so abruptly that Kenny blinked in surprise at the tone of his voice.

"Your friend?" He echoed. This was the first time he'd ever heard of this, of the fact that Butters had friends outside of him and the guys.

(Maybe that was his own fault though, for not bothering to ask.)

Butters nodded, turning to face him. Kenny was surprised to see the tears gathered at the edges of his eyes. "His name was Bradley."

"How'd he die?" Kenny asked, unnerved at the complete lack of emotion on Butters' face. It was wrong, considering how animated he usually was.

"He… He jumped last month." Butters said, bringing his arms around himself. It didn't seem to be because he was cold though. "He called me before he did it, talked to me until the second he jumped."

"Damn, Butters." Kenny whispered. He'd had no idea. He reached over and put his arm around the shorter teen, wanting to comfort him. He didn't expect Butters to suddenly wrap his arms around his waist and bury his face in his chest, but he didn't pull away. "Butters…"

"Was it my fault for not getting to him in time?" Butters asked, his muffled voice sounding a little choked. Kenny could feel his shoulders shaking underneath his hands. "He was my friend. I cared about him so much. Wh-Why wasn't that enough, Kenny?"

"I'm sorry." Kenny murmured, not knowing what else he could say. Usually, he was the one who died, so he didn't have any experience in comforting someone while they were grieving. He felt his hands rubbing circles into Butters back and hopped that he was offering at least a little comfort to him.

"I… I couldn't save him, Kenny." Butters whispered into his chest. He brought his hand up to wipe at his eyes, and Kenny see that the front of his parka was soaked with his tears. Butters let out a little hiccup. "I let him die. It's m-my fault he's dead."

"It wasn't your fault, Butters." Kenny said, his eyes widening. Did Butters really think that? He pushed Butters away enough so that they were eye to eye. "Do you understand? It wasn't your fault he died."

"But I was his accountabilibuddy." Butters said, his lower lip quivering. "I-I was supposed to take care of him at Camp, and I even s-stopped him from jumping once before. But I… I wasn't enough this time."

Kenny shook his head. "Don't blame yourself for this, Butters. Do you think he'd want you to blame yourself?"

"I still should have—"

Kenny pulled Butters closer to him. "You can't save everybody. There's a lot of things you think you could have or should have done, but it doesn't change what happened. Trust me, I know from experience. I'm sorry your friend died, but he wouldn't want you to blame yourself for what he did. He'd want you to be happy, right?"

Butters was quiet for a moment, considering those words. "He… He always said that he always liked seeing me smile, before." He finally said, sniffing.

Kenny nodded, relieved that his tears finally seemed to be stopping. "So smile for him now."

"Easier said than done." Butters said, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "I'm really sorry I dragged you all the way out here, Kenny."

He grinned back, showing him that he didn't mind. "It's okay, you know I like driving my new old car around."

"Thank you for bringing me out here without asking questions." Butters stepped away from him, shivering at the sudden chill from the empty space between them. "And for letting me cry on your shoulder." He added after a second of thought.

"No problem." Kenny noticed the way that Butters was shivering. "Come on, let's get back to the car. You must be freezing without your jacket on."

"Y-Yeah, a b-bit." Butters said, his stutter accentuated by a tremor that rocked through his body.

It didn't feel right, having Butters walk all the way back to the car while he was warm in his parka. Kenny paused for a moment, wondering whether or not the idea that just came into his head would be too weird or not. He shook his head and decided to just go for it. He opened his parka and motioned for Butters to step inside. "Get in here."

His eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not standing like this because I like the cold, Butters. Get in here before you catch pneumonia."

"But I—" Butters still looked unsure.

A gust of wind prompted Kenny to put his arm around the shorter teen and zip them inside the warmth of his parka. He smiled down at him. "There, isn't that better?"

"Yeah… I guess it was pretty stupid of me to throw my jacket over the edge, huh?" Butters mumbled sheepishly, his face heating up from embarrassment.

"It's a good thing I'm such a nice friend, right?" Kenny asked cheekily, wagging his eyebrows.

He managed to get Butters to smile again at least. "Yeah, I'm really lucky to have you."

Same here, he thought. He could feel a familiar ache throb in his chest. But even if it was only as a friend, he was happy to have Butters at his side like this. He would be his friend no matter how much it hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, is this angsty. This is what happens when you think of minor characters while mindlessly trying to reach your word count goal XD


	18. Hitchhiker

It wasn't often that Kenny saw hitchhikers on the road, so when he noticed one walking by the side of the road, he could feel his curiosity peaking. The hitchhiker looked just like how he imagined one would look like. A long coat over their frame (this person looked a little on the small side, maybe they were young?) and a scarf bundled around the bottom half of their face to guard against the cold. They wore a shabby-looking backpack and had their thumb sticking straight out. None of the cars were stopping, which Kenny could understand. Why pick up some stranger that could easily stab you for your car when you weren't looking?

But there was something oddly familiar about this person. Kenny couldn't really see their face with the scarf covering most of their features, and the hat they were wearing hid all but a few strands of yellow hair. He wondered if he should just keep going, ignore the strange feeling in his gut and just head home, but instead he pulled over just a few feet in front of this person and waited. He could hear their footsteps hurrying towards him, probably grateful that someone finally stopped to pick them up.

"I can pay for gas." Was the first thing to come out of his mouth. At least Kenny thought it was a guy now that he heard his voice. He guessed that the gas money thing must have been a deal breaker more than once before, judging by the urgency in the guy's voice.

"Its fine, I would have taken you even if you couldn't." He said, wondering as he spoke where the hell that came from. What surprised him though, was how much he meant it. Shaking off the thought, he unlocked the passenger side door. "Hop in."

"Thank you so much." The hitchhiker said, opening the door and climbing in. He took care to put on his seat belt after closing the door behind him. Kenny wouldn't have expected that, but then, what was expected of a hitchhiker? He started up his car as the guy shrugged out of his backpack and undid the scarf around his face.

"So where are you headed?" He asked, keeping one eye on him and one on the road, just in case he had gotten himself into a mess. "You know, so I have an idea where to drop you off."

"Anywhere but here." The guy answered, his voice suddenly much clearer. Kenny wondered if that was how he sounded in the summer months after sixth grade, when he'd started letting his hood down every once and a while. "I've been out here all day, so the closest city is fine."

"Okay, I'll take you there." This person's voice was very familiar… Kenny swore he'd heard it somewhere before. As the guy took off his hat, Kenny turned his head slightly to get a good look at him.

And nearly ran into the truck in front of him.

He only managed to avoid it when the person next to him screamed, snapping him out of his shocked stare. He quickly pulled over to the side of the road, his near death experience coupled with the recognition leaving his hands a shaking mess.

"What was that all about?! You could have gotten us killed" Kenny looked over to see that his passenger was just as shaken by the whole ordeal as he was. His light blue eyes were wide and afraid, and his slender fingers were shakily reaching for the door handle. "I don't know what your problem is, but I've come too far to die because of some crazy—"

"Butters." The name spilled out of Kenny's lips. The hand that had just managed to wrap around the handle suddenly stilled and his eyes widened at the word, confirming Kenny's suspicions.

"How do you know that name?" Butters asked, blinking up at him.

"Don't you recognize me?" He asked. Butters shook his head, so leaned in a little closer and pulled his hood down. "I'm Kenny McCormick. From South Park, remember?"

A hollow look came into Butters' eyes. "South Park?"

Kenny nodded, questions flooding his mind and spilling out of his mouth. "God, it's been years since I last saw you. Where did you disappear to after sixth grade? Where have you been hiding this last decade?"

Butters shook his head and seemed to come back to himself. He frowned at Kenny and said, "Why do you want to know? I don't have to tell you anything."

Kenny blinked at this sudden change in personality. Butters never used to snap at people before. "I'm just curious, Butters. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but it's really surprising seeing you out of the blue like this. What are you doing hitchhiking?"

His eyes suddenly became guarded. "Why are you picking up hitchhikers?"

"I asked you first." Kenny said, suddenly feeling very worried about his old friend. What had happened in their time apart that caused him to change?

"It's a secret." Butters said, his hand clenching around the handle while his other hand undid the belt buckle. "And I'm not telling you anything. Goodbye."

Before Kenny could blink, Butters was stepping out of his car, back onto the road. Without thinking, he got out of his car too and walked after him. "Butters, wait!"

Butters turned around, surprised that Kenny followed him. He quickly lost that expression for one of annoyance. "What, do you want me to pay for the tenth of a mile I rode with you?"

He stopped short, stung by his remark. "No. Jesus, what happened to you Butters? You're… different."

Butters cast his eyes downwards and kicked at the dirt under his feet. "People change after ten years, Kenny."

They stood there on the side of a busy road for a few moments, neither one of them moving or saying anything as car after car passed them by. Finally, Kenny spoke up.

"Look, I promised you a ride right?" He held up a hand before Butters could protest. "You don't have to answer any questions or anything, but I'm not just going to leave you on the side of the road, okay?"

Butters' eyes glanced between him and the road, as if deciding. None of the cars that went past seemed intent on stopping, and here Kenny was offering a sure ride. He had to pick him over the risk of spending the rest of the day out here, right?

Still, to add a little incentive Kenny added, "I'll even by you a burger if you want. Come on, Butters."

"… Okay." Butters finally said. He started walking towards the car. "But you have to keep that promise about not asking any questions."

"I promise." Kenny said, a relieved smile on his face. He hurried over to the driver's side and waited until he heard the click of Butters' seat belt before starting up the car again. He kept his eyes on the road this time, not wanting to repeat their last incident.

It was crazy that this was how he would be seeing Butters Stotch again after so long. The last time he'd seen the younger boy was the first day of summer before seventh grade. He couldn't exactly remember their last conversation (who in the world remembered conversations from a decade ago word for word anyways?) but he did remember the way Butters had looked. His eyes had been bright and happy, his familiar smile lighting up his whole face.

A quick glance at Butters now was jarring. Butters' mouth was turned down and his eyes were dull, nothing like they used to be. His hair was a little darker and longer, covering his ears. He was still cute, but in a darker way.

He hadn't realized how long he had been looking at Butters until the shorter male glared at him. Kenny blinked and quickly refocused on driving his car. He had to stop looking at him so often.

They had been driving for a good ten minutes before Butters finally spoke up. "This is a really nice car you have."

"Really?" Kenny asked, surprised to hear his voice after so much silence. Still, he couldn't help the pride that colored his tone. "Thanks, I worked my ass off making the last payment a month ago."

"Hmm." Butters murmured, running his hand over the dashboard. "It's been a long time since I was in a car this nice."

Kenny felt that there was a lot more underneath that simple statement, but he held his curiosity back. Instead he nodded. "Glad you approve of it."

They were quiet for a while after that. In the silence Kenny figured that if he couldn't ask Butters questions, at the very least he could catch up Butters in all that he'd missed since he left South Park. Anything to break the awkward silence that hung heavy around them.

"Did you know that Tweek got Ruby Tucker pregnant last year?" He blurted out, leading off with the most interesting story at the top of his head. He mentally slapped himself, wondering why he said that. Butters never cared about gossip.

"What?" He asked, turning away from the window with wide eyes. "How did that happen?"

Then again, it was a pretty interesting story. "They hooked up in a closet at Mr. Mackey's holiday party. Apparently Tweek thought she was Craig, because she'd dyed her hair and cut it really short."

Butters bit his lip, clearly trying not to smile. "So what happened afterwards?"

"Oh, Craig threatened to cut his dick off if he didn't marry her. I was there when he confronted him. I've never seen someone shake so violently." Kenny said, grinning. "Ruby ended up putting the baby up for adoption this summer though."

"Wow." Butters breathed. He turned his head back to the window. "Interesting story, Kenny."

"I thought so." Kenny said. "And at that same party, Wendy broke up with Stan for the final time."

"I never thought they'd end up together." Butters said, keeping his eyes on the passing scenery.

"Something was always off about them." Kenny agreed. "He's still not with Kyle though, and the whole town's frustrated as hell about that."

Butters frowned. "I never liked that about South Park."

"What, that they were all rooting for Stan and Kyle to end up together?" He asked, glancing over to see his expression.

Butters shook his head. "No, even I was rooting for them back then. The fact that everyone had to be so freaking involved in everybody else's business. Small towns like South Park are the worst."

That sounded like he was comparing it to somewhere else. "Have you lived in any other small towns since South Park?"

"You promised you wouldn't ask any questions." Butters reminded him, wrapping his arms around his midsection. It looked like he was trying to hold himself together.

"Sorry, it just sounded like you were speaking from experience." Kenny said, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Butters nodded, slowly loosening his arms. "I'm fine. And yeah, I lived in another small town. Absolutely hated it."

So now he knew a little more about where he'd been at least. He resisted the urge to ask if that was the reason why he was hitchhiking, knowing that it would just make Butters clam up. "Sucks to hear, Butters."

"It doesn't matter now." Butters said, leaning his head against the door. "I'm not there anymore, and I'm not going back."

Damn, this sounded nothing like the Butters he remembered. Kenny let the conversation end there, again wondering what had happened to change Butters so drastically in the years they'd been apart. It had to have been something bad.

"You never answered my question." Butters said suddenly, his tone suggesting that this was important to him.

"What question?" Kenny asked, confused.

"I asked you why you were picking up hitchhikers. You used to be really cautious." Butters said, tilting his head to get a better look at him.

"Me cautious?" Kenny had to laugh at that. "Even back in fourth grade I was a reckless idiot, Butters. Remember all the drugs I used to do? What makes you think I was cautious?"

Butters frowned at him. "I noticed how you would be extra careful in shop class. You stayed away from anything sharp. That's why you failed, because you never made anything. You always seemed to be afraid that death was around every corner."

"You noticed that?" Kenny asked, unable to process what he was hearing. He thought he'd hidden that pretty well, but apparently he was wrong.

"I guess I did." Butters shrugged. "I never figured you the type of person that picked up strangers off the side of the road. And that stunt just now where you nearly killed us seemed pretty out of character too."

"I didn't mean to do that." He said instinctively.

Butters raised an eyebrow. "I figured. So why'd you pick me up?"

Kenny didn't say anything. He didn't exactly know why he'd done it, only that he knew that hitchhiker had some connection with him, and he'd felt… compelled to. He glanced at Butters from the corner of his eye. He was still waiting for an answer.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "I just thought you looked familiar."

"'You thought I looked familiar.'" Butters echoed. He rolled his eyes. "It's that type of sentimentality that gets people killed on the streets."

Okay, that definitely sounded like it came from experience. The bitter way he'd said it made Kenny forget the 'no questions' rule and ask, "Have you seen that happen, Butters?"

The vacant, horrified expression on his face said it all. Butters arms came around him again, tighter than before. Still, he shook his head. "Y-You're breaking your promise."

Kenny didn't bother apologizing this time. "How many times? Just once? More than once? What's made you so cold, Butters?"

"Mind your own fucking business!" Butters cried, so loudly that Kenny swerved a bit. His hands moved from his body to clutch at his head. He gripped at the hat and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm still here." He repeated to himself, each time sounding like he was going to break down.

"Butters? Butters, look at me!" Kenny called, pulling over to the side again. He reached over and took Butters' face in his hands. He wouldn't stop repeating that phrase. "I'm sorry. Do you hear me? I'm sorry I broke my promise. Please, look at me."

"I'm still here." Butters whispered, loosening his grip.

"Hey, I'm here too." Kenny said, hoping this was getting through to him. "Come on, look at me."

Slowly, Butters opened his eyes. He blinked up at him, confused. "Kenny?"

Kenny smiled, relief flooding through him. "Butters, you're okay."

Butters blinked a few more times, letting the confusion drain away from him. He let his hands fall to his lap, a frown forming on his face quickly. "You can let go of me now."

"Huh?" Kenny looked at his hands, still on either side of his face. He quickly dropped them, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry about that."

Butters rubbed at the spot that Kenny had been holding. For a second, Kenny swore he saw a tinge of pink in his cheeks, but when he blinked it was gone. Butters crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. "I bet you're wondering what all that was about."

Kenny nodded, but he didn't press it. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, you got enough information out of me already. Might as well let you know a few more things." He said, sighing. He shifted his coat to cover him better. "But first you have to buy me that burger you promised, okay?"

Kenny smiled. Already it felt like the old Butters was coming back to him. "You got it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, another weird chapter. It's an AU I've been thinking about that never really came to anything (aside from this oneshot). Sorry it's not all that shippy, maybe next time.


	19. Sick

Kenny waited behind some bushes as Mr. Stotch pulled out of the driveway. He knew from months of experience that the Stotches left the house ten minutes apart, Mrs. Stotch first, Mr. Stotch last. Usually Butters left the house in the five minutes between their two absences and walked to the end of the street where Kenny waited so that they could head over to the bus stop together.

But Butters hadn't shown up and that was why Kenny was waiting in the bushes. Mr. Stotch didn't like him one bit and this was without him (or even Butters for that matter) knowing that Kenny had developed a crush on his son.

As the car drove off away from the house, Kenny let himself stretch up from his crouched position. He hadn't expected to be so stiff after only five minutes of waiting there, but the cold weather must have really messed up his joints. He let himself hop around to get the feeling back into them for a few seconds before walking to the front door.

He rang the doorbell and waited for a few minutes. He wondered what in the world could be keeping Butters so long. Maybe he'd gotten grounded again, Kenny thought dryly. What could he have possibly done in the time it took for him get up to go to school that could make his parents ground him though?

When five minutes had passed (he could finally tell time now, thanks to the watch Butters had gotten him for his birthday last month), he realized that Butters wasn't coming down to greet him. He decided that he wasn't going to wait anymore and made his way over to the back yard.

He'd used the tree that came up to Butters' window plenty of times before, though it had always been at night, and for one of their many adventures with the rest of the guys. It was definitely much easier to climb it during the day, when he could actually see where his hands and feet were grabbing. In no time he was at Butters' window, staring into his room. He hadn't really expected Butters to be rushing out the door, half dressed with a piece of bread in his mouth like some cute anime girl (though it would have been nice to see), but the sight before him was much more surprising.

Butters was lying in his bed, wrapped up in about three or four blankets, and he didn't look too well. In fact he looked like a mess. Not that he wasn't still adorable, with his cheeks flushed and his eyes drooping shut, but he didn't look like his usual, energetic self. Kenny felt his eyes widen at the sight of Butters weakly lifting his arm to grab a tissue from his nightstand and blow his nose into it.

Kenny couldn't believe his eyes. Butters was sick. And not in the usual head cold kind of way that he always powered through. He looked like he couldn't even get out of bed. He watched as Butters let the tissue drop to the ground and attempt to reach a cup that was a little further off on his dresser. After a few tries, he seemed to give up and curled tighter around himself. Kenny could see that he was shivering pretty hard, even as covered up as he was.

He couldn't stand it any longer. He climbed out onto the nearest branch and knocked on his window. Butters jumped at the sound, and turned his wide eyes towards him.

"Kenny?" He whispered. Even his voice sounded weak. He attempted to sit up in his bed, only to have a dizzy spell hit him and slowly sunk down into his bed again.

Kenny took it upon himself to open the window and climb in. "Hey, Butters. What are you doing here?"

Butters sniffed, hugging the blankets closer to himself. "I- I should be askin' you the same thing."

"What do you mean?" Kenny asked, walking over to his dresser and bringing the cup of water to him.

Butters took the cup gratefully. He brought it to his lips and drank the small amount of water that remained in there before looking up at him. "You should be at school, Kenny. Not climbing up through my window."

Kenny shrugged, trying to sound casual. "You didn't show up at the usual time. I got worried."

Butters smiled up at him. "Thank you for worryin' about me Kenny, but I'll be fine. You should be heading over to class now."

"Are you kidding me?" Kenny asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. He gestured to Butters. "You couldn't even grab that glass of water by yourself. I'm staying right here until you get better, okay?"

Butters shook his head. "I can take care of myself, really. You just go on to… to…" He had to stop talking to sneeze into the crook of his shoulder. He blinked down at the mess blushed. "To class. Um, could you hand me a tissue?"

Kenny reached over and gave him a few of the Kleenex on his drawer. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to hide his smile. "Here's one reason I need to stay."

Butters attempted to sit up, alarm all over his face. "But Kenny, what about your grades? You've only just brought them back up and—"

He made Butters lie down by pushing down on his shoulder. It was surprisingly easy to keep him down. "I can miss a day, Butters. I'll catch up really easily, don't worry."

"I don't know about this." Butters mumbled, letting Kenny tuck the blankets around him. "I'll feel really guilty if I'm the reason you end up missing anything important today."

Kenny shrugged. "If I do, I'll just copy the notes from Stan. He always lets me cheat off his test too."

"Cheat?" Butters asked, knitting his eyebrows together. He clearly did not approve.

"Uh, yeah if I have to do a pop quiz I didn't study for." Kenny said, trying to undo the damage. "I've never done it for finals or standardized tests or anything."

"Really?" He asked, looking like he wouldn't believe him no matter what he said.

Kenny nodded, but he couldn't look Butters in the eye. "Sure. What, don't you trust me?"

Butters sighed and nodded. "Of course I trust you Kenny. I believe you."

That was the awesome thing about Butters, Kenny thought. No matter how obvious it was that someone was lying to him, he chose to believe in them rather than call them out on their bullshit. It made you want to be a better person so that you could deserve the trust he had in you.

Butters sniffed, shivering a little. "It's really cold in here, could you close the window, Ken?"

Kenny looked over to the window, realizing that he hadn't shut it behind himself. "Oh, sorry about that."

"It's no problem." Butters said, watching him close the window and walk back to him. He smiled as Kenny sat down at the end of his bed. "I just don't want to get any sicker, you know?"

"Yeah." Kenny said, absentmindedly placing his hand on Butters' forehead. He pulled his hand back almost immediately when he registered how hot it actually was. "Shit, you're burning up!"

Butters blinked up at him, a soft frown forming on his features. "Don't curse, Kenny."

He waved his hand, dismissing his reprimand. "Sorry. But wow, you're skin's really hot! You must have a really high fever burning inside of you."

He nodded. "My mom checked it just before she left for work. A hundred and two point seven." He sank lower into his mountain of blankets. "I think I'll be okay once it breaks though."

Kenny wasn't so sure about how many blankets were on top of him. "Are you sure you should be covered like this? You could end up overheating yourself."

Butters shivered. "I don't want to take them off. I'll freeze to death if I do."

Having frozen to death before, Kenny could attest that no, removing one blanket wouldn't do him in. Still, he didn't want to push him, so he shrugged his shoulders and let it go. "Okay, we'll leave them on. Have you taken any medicine yet?"

Butters shook his head. "We have a few pills in the medicine cabinet, but my dad said that if I wanted to take some, I had to get them myself."

Kenny suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the mention of Mr. Stotch. The rules that man set were ridiculous. "Okay, then that's what I'm going to do for you. You said it was in the medicine cabinet?"

Butters nodded. "Yeah, but you don't have to do that for me. I can-"

Kenny put his hand over Butters' mouth and smiled. "Don't say you can do it yourself. I got this."

Butters blinked up at him adorably before he pulled his head away. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Kenny said. He grabbed the glass on the nightstand before leaving. "I'll get you some water while I'm at it.

He was out the door before Butters could protest. He closed the door behind himself and waited for a second before pressing the palm of his hand to his mouth. God, he felt like a girl doing this, but… it made him happy to think that he had indirectly kissed Butters. He smiled as he took his hand away. If they guys every found out, they'd rail on him forever.

He decided to head downstairs first to fill up the glass. You had to keep someone sick hydrated, right? Kyle told him that once when Karen got the flu because they couldn't afford to get her a flu shot.

The kitchen was the same as it had ever been. Pristine looking and full of food. Kenny felt his stomach growl at the sight of the bowl of fresh food on the kitchen table. His kitchen (if you could call that hole in the wall a kitchen) never had any food out. The rats would get to it, unless the roaches got there first. He kept his eyes on the sink as he filled the cup, in case he gave into his greedy stomach. Butters was his top priority right now.

As he walked up the stairs again, the thought that could probably make a good nurse popped in his mind. His mind started to wander a bit at the thought of nurses and their sexy outfits (and okay, maybe he pictured Butters in one of those outfits) as he walked back to Butters' door, so he was a bit distracted when he walked in and didn't notice that Butters was on the floor until he was nearly stepping on him.

Kenny blinked down and nearly dropped the cup full of water on him. "Butters? What happened?" He asked, coming to his senses first and placing it on the other boy's nightstand before dropping down to check on him.

Butters looked up at him, smiling sheepishly. "I thought you were gone a long time, so I wanted to see if I could help you. I didn't realize how weak my legs were."

Kenny let out a short laugh, amazed at the fact that Butters could be so altruistic. "It's a good thing you didn't make it to the stairs. That would have been a disaster." He helped Butters sit upright and shook his head. "You should worry about yourself a little more."

"I know." Butters said, nodding his head in agreement. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Of course he was okay, he had only gone downstairs. He held his tongue though, and helped him get back into his bed. "Okay, now that all that's straightened up, I'll get your medicine."

"Alright." Butters said, smiling up at him. "Thank you for going to all that trouble, Kenny."

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Kenny said, tucking the covers around his neck. He hadn't noticed before, but Butters was shivering like crazy.

Kenny straightened up and went over to the bathroom. The medicine was right where Butters said it would be. He picked up the bottle and examined the label. It was extra strength and might cause drowsiness, which Kenny decided that Butters could handle. People needed to sleep when they were sick, after all. When he came back into the room, Butters had started sneezing again.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked the shorter male, sitting down at his bedside.

Butters sniffed, sounding like he didn't feel good at all, but he didn't express it. "I'm already feeling a lot better, thanks for asking!"

Kenny raised an eyebrow, but he didn't push it. He uncapped the medicine and poured a couple of pills into his hand. "Okay then, open up."

Butters did as he was told, letting Kenny bring the medicine and his glass of water up to his lips. He looked so cute right then, with his eyes closed and his head tilted back so that the pills would slide down his throat. He ran his tongue over his lips and…

Kenny blinked and shook his head, stopping those suggestive images from forming. He knew exactly where that train of thought was headed and he wasn't going to let himself fantasize about Butters while he was so vulnerable.

He'd have plenty of time for that when he was at home by himself.

Butters opened his eyes and smiled at him. "I usually don't like swallowing pills, but that wasn't so bad."

Kenny grinned at him. "Maybe it was the fact that I was the one to give it to you?"

He had been joking of course, but Butters' face suddenly turned a shade of pink that matched his nose. He looked away and stuttered, "Y-Yeah, I guess so. You're really special, Kenny."

"I am?" Kenny said, surprised by the sudden praise. It didn't sound like one of Butters' usual compliments, it was a little more… personal. Yeah, that was the term he was looking for. It was much more personal. He found that he couldn't look up at him anymore. He busied himself with putting the cap back on the bottle. "Thanks, I think so myself."

Butters laughed nervously and settled himself in his blankets. "You should. Sometimes you get so down on yourself and it makes me really sad because I think you're great."

Had Butters noticed those times when he was really depressed? He could feel himself getting warmer underneath his parka and he decided that he needed a few minutes to himself. He stood up and moved the cup of water towards him. "Here, have some more water. I'm going to put the medicine back, okay?"

Butters nodded, grabbing the glass and taking a long drink. Kenny left the room before he was able to put it down again to answer him.

In the bathroom, he placed the bottle of medicine back into the cabinet and then took some time to stare at himself in the mirror. What did Butters see in him that was so great? He looked the same as he'd always looked. Awesome face, of course. He attributed most the sex he'd gotten since the end of middle school to his face. Most of the time it was covered by his hood, so he didn't bother to hide his emotions. And looking at himself right now, he could see that he was very obvious with how he was feeling. 

Anybody, even a dense fucker like Cartman would see that he was in love with the boy in the other room. He tried to hide behind the hood and with words like 'oh, he's really cute you know?' but to be honest, he loved that boy. He couldn't say when he'd exactly realized it. It was more of a thing that just happened and he found out about it only months afterwards.

He sighed and let his head hang low. He hadn't confessed his feelings and gotten rejected or anything like that, but all the times that Butters had called him a friend, or said that he was the nicest person he knew… Well, that wasn't the way you talked to someone you had a crush on. Kenny didn't mind. He would rather just be his friend than lose him over something stupid like his feelings. No, he wasn't going to be telling Butters anything about how he felt. He gave himself a little more time to control his expression, not too friendly, not too cold, before walking out.

When he came back into the room, he saw that Butters was shivering worse than before. Kenny walked up to him and pressed his hand to Butters' forehead. "You're still really hot."

Butters nodded, another hard shudder rocking his frame. "E-Either that or the room got colder. C-Can I have another blanket?"

Kenny debated with himself on whether that was a good idea. "I don't know. You'll feel better in a few minutes when the medicine kicks in. Can't you just wait until then?"

Butters shook his head, trembling harder. "I just want to feel warm again. Please, just make it warm, Kenny."

Kenny bit his lip. He looked so fucking adorable just then, with his face all flushed and pleading. He really didn't want to overheat him, but he looked so helpless…

"If it can't be a blanket, can it at least be you?" Butters asked, blinking up at him. "Please?"

Kenny pulled his hand back, wondering if he even knew what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Butters curled in tighter around himself. "Climb in here with me."

Kenny had to wait a few seconds to let that sink in. When it did, he had to ask, "You want me to climb in there with you?"

"Yes, please." Butters said, his blue eyes looked so pleadingly at him that Kenny found that he couldn't help himself. He kicked off his shoes and got under the covers with him, being careful to prevent any of the cold air from getting into the blanket cocoon.

Butters immediately wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his chest. He could feel Butters sigh into his chest. "So warm." He murmured.

Well, this was a really bad place to be when the person you loved was so vulnerable. Kenny brought his hands up to the shorter blond's shoulders, but he didn't push him away. Not because he didn't want to, but because it would be mean of him to deny Butters of the warmth that he was looking for. Right. "How are you feeling now?" He asked, making sure that he wasn't pressed too tightly against him.

"Better." Butters said. And it seemed to be true. Butters wasn't shivering as hard as he had been before Kenny had gotten in with him. He closed his eyes, his long eyelashes transfixing Kenny's eyes towards them. They were so long and pretty, like a girl's.

He didn't want to leave. He knew this immediately, and it was definitely bad. Kenny couldn't stay in his bed all day, that part was obvious. But Butters was so cute right now and he fit in his arms just right, how could Kenny not want to stay with him forever? Kenny sighed into Butters head.

"What's wrong?" Butters asked, his voice sounding groggy. He was probably sleepy from the medicine, Kenny realized.

He shook his head, feeling the strands of Butters' hair brush against his cheek. "Nothing. I'm glad I came to check on you."

"Me too." Butters mumbled, pressing his face against Kenny's neck. "Thank you for taking care of me."

He swallowed. "No problem, it's what friends do for each other, right?"

"Yeah." Butters breathed, sounding like he was on the cusp of sleep. Sure enough, it wasn't a minute later until his breathing was even and Kenny was sure that he was asleep.

Kenny let his eyes close too. He wasn't going to be able to get any sleep with Butters in his arms like this, but he didn't have to look at his sleeping face while doing it. He was having enough trouble keeping himself from sporting a boner without looking at him.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last of it for now. It's more lighthearted than the last two I wrote, so let me know if that's a good thing or a bad thing!


	20. Cupcakes

It wasn’t exactly easy to maneuver around the rowdy lunch crowd while holding a tray of cupcakes, but Butters wasn’t about to complain. After all, he’d volunteered himself to help out with the South Park High Cheerleaders’ annual bake sale, so he was the one who put himself in this situation in the first place.

Still, he had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning when someone accidentally elbowed him in the ribs.

He sighed in relief when he reached the space that Bebe had secured for the event. His arms were starting to get really tired. He smiled at his friend as he placed his tray on one of the tables in front of him. “Hey Bebe, how’s everything going?”

Bebe smiled right back at him, looking pleased to see him. “Great now that you’re here, Butters! Come here.” She said, walking around the (rather large) table to wrap her arms around him. He hugged her back, feeling a little surge of happiness now that he was now a whole inch taller than her. Of course, she wasn’t wearing her usual heels, but like his Aunt Nellie always said, you had to appreciate the little things life gave you.

Butters glanced around at the rest of the people around the table, recognizing a lot of faces. There was Clyde over at the end, clad in his football uniform and calling out to the kids nearby to buy something, and Wendy was manning the register. Red and Millie were setting up the baked goods, making them look especially appetizing. Even so, they looked like they were only having limited success in drawing in customers.

“Is everybody here already, or do you want me to stay and help you do some selling?” He asked when Bebe finally let him go. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“You don’t have to stay, it’s just…” Bebe let out a long, drawn out sigh. “A bunch of the girls were supposed to come over to help, but they either forgot or didn’t care because they’re out to lunch.”

“Should give them more punishment than that little reprimand you’re planning on!” Red called from her spot by the brownies.

“I don’t plan on ruling this cheer squad with an iron fist, Red!” Bebe laughed. Butters knew that last year’s cheer captain was really mean to the rest of the girls, and Bebe didn’t want to be that kind of captain. The smile left her face when she turned back to him. “We’re understaffed today. But you’ve already helped out with the cupcakes you made, so you can just go and enjoy your lunch, okay? I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Butters frowned. “I’m sure you’ll be fine too, but you don’t have to put on a brave face around me. I’ll be happy to help.”

She smiled and brought a hand to her chest. “Aw, you’d really give up your lunch hour just for us?”

“Of course!” Butters said, smiling back. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

“That’s right!” Millie said, walking over to them and grabbing Butters’ arm. She stuck her tongue out at the disapproving stare Bebe gave her. “What, he volunteered! How about you help me and Red with setting up the food Butters?”

“Sure!” Butters said, ready to help with whatever they asked of him. Millie led him over towards where she and Red had been working. They were doing a pretty good job, making sure that all the baked goods were visible and tastefully decorated around the table. 

His mind went over to his own cupcakes. He’d spent most of last night decorating them. He wanted to make sure that they were pretty and eye catching, so that they would sell well. Sure, he’d woken up late and almost gotten grounded for it, but it would be worth it if they brought in money for the cheer squad.

He and Millie got to work right away, placing cookies and brownies and pieces of cake on colorful paper plates. They usually had to redo everything Red set up, because she didn’t pay much attention to detail (and while Butters didn’t mind that she was messy with the food, he knew that a nice presentation really helped in sales) but pretty soon, they had everything visible and ready to be purchased.

“You’re the best.” Millie said, slinging her arm around his shoulder. “I can’t imagine having to do this with just Red around.”

“Screw you.” Red muttered, but Butters could see that she was smiling.

“It’s no problem, Millie.” Butters said, turning his attention to a stack of chocolate chip cookies that needed a little adjustment. “I like making things look nice.”

Butters had been told by his art teacher that he had a real talent for setting things up, and aside from baking, it was one of the things he liked doing best in the world. Baking a cake and then being able to decorate it… Butters could count on one hand the other things that could make him happier.

“Hey, look at all this food!”

And here was one of those things now. 

Butters looked up and saw Kenny walking up to the tables full of pasteries, a look of longing in his cobalt blue eyes. He grinned at Butters, making the shorter teen blush slightly. “Hey, do you give a discount for boyfriends?”

“I wish.” Clyde sighed, coming over to them and glancing over at Bebe. “You’d think I’d get a free snack, helping out with this bake sale and all.”

“Poor thing.” Kenny cooed, reaching over and pinching Clyde’s cheek. Clyde swatted him away and rolled his eyes. “So what’s the cheapest thing you guys have?”

“The peanut butter lady fingers are twenty-five cents.” Red said, sticking a post-it note labeled ’25 cents’ in front of the plate holding said lady fingers. “Though I don’t think you’d be able to afford them.”

“Red!” Bebe cried, having over heard her. She glanced over at Kenny, but couldn’t really say anything. They all knew that he was poor.

“Whatever.” Kenny shrugged, seemingly not bothered by her words. Butters could tell though, by the way he kept his eyes down that it really had hurt, a little. “She’s right though, I can’t afford that. Butters is allergic to peanut butter.” He winked and Butters felt himself blush again.

Clyde let out a snort and the tension quickly left the air. “You’re so lewd McCormick.”

Kenny raised an eyebrow. “This coming from the guy who keeps porn magazines in his locker?”

“I… But you-”Clyde sputtered for a second, especially when he saw the glare that Bebe was giving him. “Y-You have a shit ton of those in your locker too!”

Kenny nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not ashamed of that.”

Wendy stood up from her place at the register, her hands on her hips. “Excuse me, we are trying to run a bake sale here. If you’re not going to buy something, Kenny, would you please leave? You’re distracting the staff.”

He smirked. “Aw, what’s the matter Wendy? Jealous that your boyfriend isn’t coming over to visit you like I’m visiting Butters? Don’t worry, he’ll be here for the sugar.”

Butters bit back a smile when Wendy’s face turned pink. “He is NOT my boyfriend, Kenny. And I don’t appreciate you making fun of him.” She added, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Lighten up, Wendy.” Bebe said, wrapping her arm around the other girl’s waist and squeezing. “He’s just teasing.”

Wendy just rolled her eyes. “Let him tease when we’re not busy.”

“Um, but we’re not exactly busy, Wendy…” Butters chirped, gesturing to the empty space in front of their table. “We don’t have any customers.”

All of them collectively sighed. It was true, for the past ten minutes they hadn’t had a single person come up to buy something from them. Even after they’d finished setting everything up, no one had approached them. There were still twenty minutes until lunch ended, but that wasn’t much time if you really thought about it.

“Alright, guess I’ll leave you guys alone then.” Kenny said. He leaned over the table, just barely avoiding a piece of frosted cake, and kissed Butters on the cheek. “I’ll see you after school, okay?”

“O-Okay.” Butters said, smiling up at him. Kenny smiled back and waved to the rest of the teens before walking away.

Millie put a hand to her heart and sighed dreamily. “You two are like, the sweetest couple I’ve ever seen. I wish I could find someone like that.”

“You want a perverted loser like McCormick?” Red deadpanned. She glanced over at Butters and sent him an apologetic look. “No offense, of course.”

“None taken.” Butters said. He knew that a lot of people didn’t see past Kenny’s outer appearance. Sure, he had a really dirty mind sometimes, and yes, he said things that Butters wouldn’t dream of thinking of with no qualms about who could be listening, but underneath that he was the nicest guy Butters knew. And Kenny loved him. What else did he need?

Wendy sighed. “Alright, if we’re through with the chit chat, let’s get back to work. Clyde, you go back to yelling at the people milling around. Red, Millie, you can either join him or walk around and advertise. Bebe, Butters and I will stay and run things while you’re gone.”

“And we thought last year’s captain was bossy.” Red muttered, grabbing Millie’s hand and choosing to walk around instead of joining Clyde’s overexcited yelling. “Wendy’s worse.”

Butters could tell that Wendy had heard that comment by the way her shoulders tensed, but she didn’t say anything about it. With the girls gone, Clyde started shouting at the students that strayed near their table.

“Hey you! Yeah, you in the stripes!” Clyde called to a freshman that was walking across the quad. “How about you show some support for our cheer squad? Buy a cupcake or something!”

“I don’t have any money!” The kid called back. 

“So just borrow some from your friends! These cookies are fucking delicious!” Clyde yelled, grabbing a plate that Butters had taken particular care with and lifting it over his head. Unfortunately, Clyde had been a little too enthusiastic with his grab and a few of the cookies slipped off the plate and onto his head.

There was scattered laughter among the kids who were around. Bebe, on the other hand, looked horrified at what he’d done.

“Clyde! Look what you’ve done! Butters worked so hard on that display.” She took the plate from him and set it back on the table. She turned to Butters, a sad frown on her face. “I’m so sorry my boyfriend’s a complete idiot, Butters.”

Butters shook his head. “It’s okay, Bebe. I’m not at all upset, it’s just…” He dropped his eyes to the floor. A few of the cookies had fallen from his head and landed on the ground, making them effectively unsellable. 

Bebe frowned. “I hope you plan on paying for those, Clyde.”

Clyde smiled sheepishly, carefully collecting the ones that were still on him and placing them on the plate. “H-How much do I owe you, babe?”

“Don’t you ‘babe’ me.” She flicked at his nose, but her expression wasn’t angry anymore at least. “Each was fifty cents. I count four on the ground. Do the math.”

“Uh…” He reached for his wallet and handed her a dollar. When she raised an eyebrow, he gave her two more. “That should be enough right?”

She giggled and gave him a dollar back. “Math was never your strong suit. You should really let Butters tutor you. He’s a genius.”

Butters shuffled at hearing her praise. “Aw, come on now. I’m not a genius.”

Bebe lifted an eyebrow. “Really now? Then how come my grade went up from a C- to an A in English after you helped me out? And Craig’s grade point average went from a 2.0 to a 3.2 after a month of you helping him, hm?”

“She’s right Butters, you’re good at helping people.” Wendy said, keeping her eyes on a clipboard that Butters didn’t remember her having a minute ago. “And you’re the best competition I have in terms of grades after Kyle.”

Butters waved his hands in front of himself and shook his head. “I’m definitely not on your level, Wendy. I can barely keep my grades at an A most times.”

Bebe tapped at his forehead lightly. “That’s because you’re always taking on more than you should. Helping us out with the bake sale, standing in as a substitute cheerleader when I ask you to, going on crazy schemes with Cartman-”

“Is he still doing those?” Clyde asked around a mouthful of cookie.

Butters shook his head, answering the question himself. “No, I can’t hang out with Eric anymore. My parents said that if I get in trouble because of him one more time, I’ll be grounded until the end of college.”

Bebe got a sly grin on her face as her brown eyes flickered to the back of Wendy’s head. “I’m pretty sure he’s got someone else to occupy his time with~”

The tip of Wendy’s pencil snapped as she was writing down something on her clipboard. She whirled around and glared up at Bebe. “You better not be implying what I think you’re implying.”

Bebe smiled innocently at her best friend. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

They kept their eyes locked, and Butters could practically see the angry sparks flying between them. Clyde nudged at Butters and wiggled his eyebrows. “It’s getting a little hot here, don’t you think?”

Bebe whirled around, her easy expression quickly changing to one that looked dangerous. “What was that, BABE?”

He gulped and held his hands up in front of him, as if protecting himself. “N-Nothing. I was just telling Butters that the weather’s warming up.”

Butters tilted his head. “But it’s the middle of winter, Clyde.”

He groaned. “Butters! You were supposed to cover for me.”

The shorter teen blinked and looked back and forth between the couple before realizing the importance of what he’d said. “Oh y-yeah! It sure is getting warmer, that’s for sure!”

Bebe’s expression cracked and she let out a short laugh. “You two are such dorks. Clyde, stop eating and start yelling again. You almost got that kid to come over last time.”

They went back to their assignments. After about five minutes, Bebe decided to join Clyde in yelling at people, and she added a few tricks from her cheerleading routines. It actually generated more attention than she expected, and pretty soon, they had a few customers coming around. Butters was in charge of handing the customers their treat while Wendy took the money.

Once the small crowd had been taken care of though, they quickly had another lull. They hadn’t sold much, but at least it was more than they had done ten minutes ago. Well, that was what Butters said when Wendy started complaining that they were probably barely going to break even on this stupid bake sale.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that we haven’t completely failed.” Wendy said, dismissing his comment. “But we wanted to make money for the team, and we’re only just making a profit. Lunch will be over in ten minutes!”

“Well, we can always take everything and try again after school.” Butters said in an attempt to cheer her up. “You’ll see, we can still sell everything.”

She shook her head. “No we can’t. We don’t have anywhere to store the food, and even if we did, the janitor wants the tables back before seventh period.”

“Oh…” Even Butters wasn’t so optimistic as to believe they could find a way to keep the table longer. The janitor, while generally a nice man, had a weird thing about his tables and chairs that nobody wanted to question.

“Let’s just face it, this was a disaster. And where the hell are Red and Millie?” Wendy frowned and craned her neck to see if she could spot them. “They were supposed to get people to come here.”

Just then Bebe’s cell phone started buzzing. She pulled it out of her pocket and groaned when she looked at the screen. “Well, we’re not going to be seeing them for the rest of the day.”

“And why’s that?” Wendy asked, rubbing her temples like she was getting a migraine. Which might have been possible, Butters thought, considering the look on her face.

Bebe passed her the phone. “They hooked up. I’m glad they’re finally together, but they couldn’t have picked a worse time.”

Wendy looked at the screen for a second before wrinkling her nose and passing it over to Butters. “They’re so rude.”

Butters couldn’t tell if the comment was towards them ditching their obligation or the picture they sent. It looked fairly innocent at first glance, with Millie kissing Red’s cheek. Of course, the sight of Red’s hand on Millie’s boob made it significantly less innocent. Still, the message was clear; they were together and going to spent the rest of lunch (and maybe the rest of the day too) alone.

“Good for them.” Butters said, seeing it as a positive thing. “Now if only Stan and Kyle would stop playing around and just be together, all of my friends will be in the relationships they’re meant to be in.”

“You’re such a matchmaker, Butters.” Bebe said, taking her cell phone back when Butters handed it to her. She slapped Clyde’s hand away when he reached for it. “You probably have enough lesbian pictures in your locker.” She said, sticking her tongue out at him when his face turned red.

“I’ll get rid of them if you want me to.” Clyde mumbled, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her thick blond curls. “Just please don’t want me to.”

She shrugged. “Eh, I’m not threatened by those girls. Just don’t let me catch you looking at them.”

“Of course!” Clyde said, kissing her cheek. “My girlfriend’s the best.”

“Mine’s better.” Said a voice just behind them.

They all turned to see Kenny walking over to them, an enormous crowd right behind him.

“Kenny!” Butters cried happily. He ran over to him and threw himself into Kenny’s arms. They hugged for a quick moment before Butters pulled away, frowning. “I’m not a girl though.”

Kenny laughed. “Yeah, and I know that better than anybody. Sorry.”

Butters easily accepted his apology. “No problem! Who are all those people?” He asked, looking over Kenny’s shoulder at the large group that had tagged along.

Kenny grinned mischievously. “They’re your customers, Buttercup. Sorry I took so long getting them all here.”

Wendy immediately perked up, sitting up straighter at the register. “There all here for the bake sale?”

Kenny nodded. “I figured that I could do my part to help you guys out. The cheer squad provides me with so much entertainment, after all. Especially when you guys started putting Butters in.”

“How did you get them all to come?” Butters asked, not wanting to pull away from his boyfriend but feeling nervous in front of so many people. He kept hold of Kenny’s hand though. “It must have taken you all lunch to gather them.”

Kenny squeezed his hand, his eyes locked onto Butters’s own baby blues. “I’d do anything for you. You know that.”

Butters felt the heat rise up his face, and resisted the urge to mash his knuckles together. He couldn’t, with his right hand holding Kenny’s. “Y-Yeah, I know.”

“Come on, start selling us things already! Lunch is almost over.” Came a very familiar voice from the middle of the crowd. 

A quick glance confirmed his suspicions. “Hey Eric, what’ll you have?” Butters asked, a friendly smile ready on his face.

Cartman stepped in forward, effectively cutting in front of people. In his defense, there wasn’t exactly a line formed yet, so he wasn’t exactly cutting. His muddy brown eyes swept past the assortment of baked goods that were placed in front of him. He nodded towards the tray of cupcakes that Butters had brought. “Those don’t look too bad. How much do they cost?”

“They’re a dollar each.” Wendy said, quickly diverting the conversation between Butters and Cartman to herself. “And no, you don’t get a discount for being friends with Butters. So don’t even try to bargain, Eric.”

“I wasn’t going to!” Cartman said, but the way he stomped his foot clearly let them all know that he’d planned on doing that the whole time. “A goddamned dollar? That is bullshit, hippie woman.”

Wendy raised an eyebrow challengingly. “That’s the price and there’s no way you’re going to get us to bring it down. Do you want it or not? We have other customers waiting.”

“You cheerleaders are all the same, trying to take money from the average hardworking American man.” Cartman grumbled, digging into his pocket and slamming a five onto the table. “Give me five, ho.”

Wendy snatched the bill, her eye twitching involuntarily at his insults. “You didn’t even earn this money, did you? This money came from your mom, who works to support you. Butters, hand him his cupcakes.”

“O-Okay.” Butters said, moving over to where the cupcakes were. 

Wendy turned to the rest of the small group, already in managing mode. “Bebe, Clyde, go deal with the rest of the customers. You want to help, Kenny? Hand out stuff.”

Butters carefully picked out five of the nicer looking ones and placed them on a paper plate before handing them over to Cartman. “Here you are, Eric. I hope you like them, I made them myself.”

Cartman’s sour expression let up a bit at that last sentence he made. “You made them?”

Butters nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. “I worked really hard on them so that Bebe and the rest of the cheer squad could make some money, so they should be good. B-But if they aren’t I’m sorry and-”

Cartman was already sinking his teeth into a cupcake, no longer looking mad. “Butters, you’re only good at a few things. Baking is one of them.” He said around a mouthful. He swallowed first before continuing. “If I’d known you were making cupcakes, I would have brought more money.”

“Hang on, did you just say that there are cupcakes made by Butters?” Another familiar voice asked. Butters turned his head to see Stan, Kyle just behind him. He looked particularly interested in what Cartman had just said.

Cartman had already finished one and had started in on the second. “Right over there.” He said, pointing to the tray that held them.

“Sweet!” Stan said, reaching a hand into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. “You always make the best things, Butters. How much do they cost?”

Butters mashed his knuckles together. “Oh, they’re a dollar each.”

Stan nodded. “That’s cool. Hey, you want one too Kyle?”

“Of course, I’d never miss out on one of Butters’s cupcakes. Fuck high blood sugar.” Kyle said. He was already reaching into the tray for the one he wanted.

Bebe came over and slapped his hand away playfully. “Hey, wait for someone to assist you!”

He rolled his eyes, but waited patiently for Bebe to put two cupcakes on a paper plate. When she handed them over, Kyle immediately bit into his cupcake while Stan paid Wendy.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about raising your blood sugar, Kyle.” Butters said, smiling at his friend. “I made sure to use a recipe that used less sugar, so that it’s safer for you.”

Kyle stared down at the baked good in his hand, eyes wider than Butters had ever seen them. “Oh my god. You mean to tell me that this is safe?”

Butters nodded. “I only make things that all of my friends can enjoy.”

Kyle shook his head, a genuinely happy smile on his face. “Butters, you are a culinary genius. Stan, taste this!” He said, grabbing the untouched cupcake and moving it towards Stan’s mouth.

Bebe nudged at Butters’s side, a sly smile on her face. “Hear that? Not only are you smart, you can bring unhappy people like Kyle joy with your cooking. My precious genius boy~”

“He’s my genius.” Kenny said, sidling up to Butters. He wrapped his arms around the shorter teen’s waist. “Watch, when you get to culinary school, everyone’s going to drop down on their knees and suck you off just to eat something you’ve made.”

“Kenny.” Butters whispered, blushing at the image that the taller blond had put in his head. “Don’t be so dirty in school.”

“Yeah.” Bebe agreed, shoving at Kenny’s shoulder. “There are freshman present.”

“They’ve heard worse.” Kenny said, sticking his tongue out at her. “I’m not kidding, Butters. People will be telling you to whip out your dick left and right.”

Butters covered his face with his hands, embarrassed beyond anything. “I wouldn’t mind just making people food. There’s no need for mandatory blow jobs.”

Kenny smirked and leaned in close to his ear. “How about voluntary ones?”

“Hey you two, get back to work!” Wendy said, standing up from her chair. “You can do any sexual things you want AFTER we help all our customers, okay?”

“O-Okay!” Butters squeaked, untangling himself from Kenny’s wandering hands. “Y-You heard her, mister. No more funny business.”

Kenny sighed, letting his lower lip jut out in a pout. “Fine… But you have to promise me that we can continue this conversation after school.”

Butters nodded, a shy smile forming on his face. “Alright then.”

Before the bell rang, the cupcakes had sold out and were still being requested. Sure, everything else sold pretty well, but there was no doubt about what had been most popular.

Clyde swept his finger over the inner edge of the tray to catch the stray frosting that had held the cupcakes. His eyes widened when he tasted it.

“Hey Butters, did you make this icing?” He asked, sweeping his finger over it again.

Butters nodded, having finished with the last of the customers. “Yeah, I figured if I made the batter from scratch, why not put the extra effort into the icing too?”

Clyde shook his head, sucking his finger clean. “I think this frosting alone could bring world peace if you made enough of it.”

“Butters should be in charge of everything we make for our next bake sale.” Bebe said, fishing into her pocket for spare change. She found three quarters and gave them to Wendy before grabbing a leftover brownie from a plate. “Here Kenny, you deserve this.”

Kenny gladly took the offered treat. “Sweet. My Buttercup didn’t happen to make this, did he?”

Butters shook his head. “Sorry, I think Red made those. She’s a good baker though, don’t worry!”

“M’not worried.” Kenny said, sinking his teeth into the food. Honestly, it could have been made by the freaking underwear gnomes and he wouldn’t have given a single fuck. After having spent all of lunch working out here and not even having his state issued lunch, anything would be great. 

“I agree with Bebe.” Wendy quipped, having finished counting out the money. “We sold out of his cupcakes first, once people had heard that Butters had made them. You’ve got quite a reputation, Butters.”

He smiled, surprised at how much praise he’d gotten today. “I’d be happy to help next time too. After all, it’s what friends are for, right?”

“Right.” Wendy said, returning his smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woo, finally updated~ Unfortunately, you all just get a friendshippy fluff fic with established Bunny and about three other pairings. Sorry if you wanted conflict or something like that ^^; It was fun to write, at least.


	21. Smoke

Kenny didn’t bother to look up from his cigarette when he heard the door open behind him. There were only two people who ever took their break in this spot, and he was already here. “Hey Bebe.”

The blonde haired girl nodded in his direction and took her usual spot next to him. She was already reaching into her pocket for her own packet of cigarettes, but cursed when she couldn’t find her lighter. She turned to him and held out her long, slim cigarette. “Mind lighting me?” She asked.

Kenny pulled his out of his mouth and held the lit end towards her. She touched the tip of her cigarette to his weak flame and in a few seconds it caught. She smiled and thanked him before taking a long drag.

“Wow, I really needed a smoke break.” She said, blowing out a gray plume of smoke into the air. “I fucking hate this place.”

Kenny nodded. He hated working at this stupid retail store just as much as she did, but he needed the money to help pay for classes at the community college that Karen would be going to next year. Not many places were hiring high school kids who were almost failing out of school, and Crazy Larry’s was the best he could do.

They continued smoking in silence. They only had fifteen minutes every shift, and since Kenny didn’t have any lunch to eat, he spent most of his time out here, at the place behind the store where all the inventory was. Bebe usually joined him, seeing as they were the only smokers currently employed. Kenny found it strange that out of all the people old Larry hired, the two teenagers were the ones who had taken up the bad habit.

He inhaled the thick smoke into his lungs, feeling the hot air burning his throat as it went down. He’d died the other night, so they were brand new and not used to the treatment, but he didn’t care. In a couple of days, if he managed to avoid death, he would be back to normal. For now though, he took it easy and kept it to three a day.

Bebe kept up the small talk, bringing up a new topic every few minutes. They were decent enough friends, but it was hard to talk to each other without Butters as a buffer. Maybe it was because they had hooked up once in a party during ninth grade. For most people, it would be too awkward to stay friends after that, but they both considered Butters the best friend either of them had ever had, so they made an effort early on and now it was easy to talk to each other. Hell, he had been the one who told Bebe about the job after all.

“I’m doing a lot better in English now.” She was saying, almost halfway done with her cigarette. “I can’t believe how much easier it is to write an essay now that I have Butters to tutor me. You should ask him for help, Kenny. You know, if you ever need it.” She added, glancing over at him.

He shook his head, stamping out the butt of his cigarette and pulling out his third one for the day. “Nah, he already has enough on his plate. It’d be better for him if he didn’t waste his time on a lost cause like me.”

Bebe rolled her eyes. “Oh don’t be so down on yourself, Kenny. You know that nobody is a lost cause in Butters’s eyes. Even a loser like you.”

He frowned, almost feeling offended by her remark, when he looked into her face and saw that she was grinning cheekily. Teasing him. He flipped her off, but smiled back. “Whatever. I don’t care about my grades anyways.”

“Okay, it’s your life.” Bebe shrugged and took another drag of her cigarette. “Oh, has Butters told you to stop smoking yet? He’s been on my case about that for a few days now.”

Kenny nodded, remembering that the last few conversations he’d had with the shorter blond had been about this exact topic. “Yeah, same here. Has he told you how each one of these cuts down your life by six minutes?”

“Yeah, he did.” Bebe said, giggling. “I think it’s really sweet that he’s so worried about our health, but we know our bodies better than he does, right? I can quit any time I want, it’s just to cut down on the stress that this job gives me.”

“Mmhm.” Kenny mumbled, blowing out a few rings of smoke and grinning when they came out right. He’d been practicing those. “I keep telling him that while I appreciate the thought, I can take care of myself.”

“Our sweet Butters, trying to save our precious minutes~” Bebe sang, a happy smile playing on her lips. She stamped out the end of her cigarette, even though there was still a good amount left. “It’s not like I’m going to quit or anything, but he kind of makes me want to cut down. He doesn’t even need to show me pictures of charred lungs or anything like the anti-smoking campaigns. It’s that disappointed look in his eyes. You know what I mean?”

He did know what she meant. Every time that Butters went in for a hug (Butters was weirdly affectionate when it came to the two of them, but Kenny didn’t mind at all) and recoiled at the scent of smoke on his parka, Kenny felt the strangest urge to stop. He never did, but the fact that he wanted to showed how much he valued Butters’s opinion. “I know what you mean.” He answered.

She stretched out her arms and gave a little moan. “Well, I guess that I should be getting back then. Larry’s going to make me stock the top shelves, and I want to start before the old people come in and stare at my ass. See you in there.”

“See you.” Kenny said waving his free hand. Alone now, he let his mind wander. It was too bad that Butters couldn’t remember about all the times that he died. If he did, he would know that he didn’t have to worry about losing six minutes or dying prematurely because a) he already died prematurely on a near weekly basis and b) every time he came back, it was in a fresh body that didn’t suffer from whatever effects his last body had. Oh well, he thought. I guess it’s nice to know that he’s so worried about me.

He finished his cigarette and walked back into the personal hell that was Crazy Larry’s.

\--

“Guys, I’ve decided that I want to take up smoking too!” Butters announced to his friends, a big smile on his face.

Bebe and Kenny stared at him for a solid minute, each trying to process what he’d just said. Kenny started laughing so hard that he fell off the couch he’d been sitting on and hit his head on the edge of the coffee table. Miraculously, he was fine. Bebe took the news a little more seriously.

“You want to start smoking?” She asked, her eyebrows drawn together in concern.

“Great… great joke, Butters.” Kenny managed to say between laughing fits.

Butters frowned, looking put out. “I’m being serious here! I want to take up smoking, just like you guys. I figured that if the two most important people in my life are going to lose six minutes of their lives every time they smoke, I’m going to make sure I lose the same amount too.”

“You’re serious?” Kenny asked, the laughter leaving him instantly. He sat up and looked at the shorter blond, wondering where the hell he had even gotten this idea from.

Butters nodded. “I sure am. I realized that I can’t stop either of you from smoking if that’s what you really want to do, so I might as well just take it up and join you when you smoke. It gets awful lonely when one or both of you go outside to smoke you know.”

Bebe looked uncomfortable with this whole conversation. “You don’t really want to smoke, do you? What about your parents? They’ll ground you if you come home smelling like cigarette smoke.”

“That’s right!” Kenny agreed, thinking that she had him there. There was no way that Butters would take up smoking with the threat of being grounded.

He smiled sheepishly at the mention of his parents, but his expression remained determined. “I know, but I don’t care. I’ll take a hundred groundings if it means we can stick together.”

“He’s really serious about this.” Bebe said, the surprise clear in her voice. “Butters, don’t take up smoking, not for the two of us.”

“Why not?” He asked, an adorable pout forming on his face. “This way we all get what we want. You get to keep smoking and I won’t bother you about it because I’ll be joining you!”

“You’ve never smoked before.” Kenny tried, knowing that this was a miserable counterargument but wanted to throw every last one he could. “You won’t be able to handle it.”

Butters knitted his eyebrows together. “Says who? After all, every smoker has to start somewhere.”

Kenny slammed his hand into his forehead, amazed at Butters’ tenacity. Sure, he was a pushover most of the time (it was actually an endearing quality, once you spent enough time with him), but when he was determined about something, he wasn’t going to give up on his idea until it backfired. And this was a win-win for Butters, if he thought about it. Either Butters smoked with them and he had his way, or he and Bebe gave up smoking for Butters not to take it up in the first place and he won his previous way.

It was ingenious.

Bebe sighed and settled herself into her couch. She clearly regretted that she agreed to host this ‘emergency best friend meeting’ at her house. “You’ve already made up your mind about this, haven’t you?”

Butters nodded, a pleased smile on his face. “I sure have. I already went out and bought myself a pack of cigarettes!”

Kenny started slamming his head on the top of Bebe’s coffee table. He was careful to avoid the corner this time, just in case. The carpet was white and it would take three week’s pay to clean blood off of that. “You’re absolutely crazy for wanting to go through with this, Butters.” He mumbled between each bang.

Butters put his hand underneath Kenny’s head, softening each slam of his head. “Maybe. Do you want to know what brand I chose?”

“No.” He mumbled. 

“It’s the same one you buy, Kenny!” Butters said, smiling like he’d accomplished something great. “Isn’t that cool?”

Kenny sighed, blowing a hot cloud on the smooth wood of the coffee table. What did it matter what brand he’d chosen when he was going to destroy his lungs? He and Bebe could handle the occasional smoke break, they were strong. And yeah Butters was strong too, it wasn’t in the same way. Butters shouldn’t destroy himself for their sakes. 

“Butters…” Bebe started, pausing to think of the right way to phrase her next words. “I can’t tell you not to smoke, because that would be pretty hypocritical of me. But you have to think about if this is really what you want to do.”

Butters took his hand out from Kenny’s head and turned to look at her. “It’s what I really want to do. We’ll all get to stick together this way!”

She shook her head. “It shouldn’t be about me or Kenny though. You have to decide if it’s the lifestyle you want, the same way I did and the same way he did.”

Butters stopped to think about this. Kenny looked up and saw that his face was showing a bit of doubt that hadn’t been there before. He had a little hope that Butters would decide that this wasn’t, in fact, what he wanted. Maybe Bebe’s words had gotten to him and—

Butters shook his head. “No, I really do want this. You said so yourself, Bebe, that smoking really takes the stress off of you, and I’ve been feeling pretty stressed lately. My stress ball isn’t working anymore, so I might as well try something new.”

Kenny felt his hopes deflate and sighed. “I guess we’re a group of smokers now.”

Butters smiled at him and ran his fingers through Kenny’s blond locks. “It’s not like anything’s going to change, Kenny. Aside from us spending more time together, that is!”

Somehow, Kenny highly doubted that.

\--

Butters took a shaky inhale of smoke from his lit cigarette, his face looking a little green as he did so. Another round of hacking came out of his chest and it made Kenny wince.

It had been a week since Butters’ crazy announcement and he’d followed through on his promise. The three of them were loitering behind the school, sneaking a cigarette before class. At least, he and Bebe were sneaking. Butters was coughing so much that Kenny was worried that he was going to suffocate.

“You okay, Butters?” Bebe asked, moving her hand to her friend’s shoulder. Her expression was one of complete guilt. Kenny wondered if his own expression mirrored hers. Even after a full week, Butters still hadn’t gotten the hang of it. If anything he’d gotten worse from when he’d first started.

Butters nodded weakly, a thin smile on his face. “S-Sure am. I love smokin’.”

It was a pretty bad lie, even by his standards. Kenny could see how much Butters hated inhaling the thick smoke, saw it from the first day he started, but Butters just wouldn’t quit. No matter how much coaxing he and Bebe tried, Butters insisted on joining them every time they went out for a smoke.

Butters took a shaky breath, fighting the urge to cough again and failing. He held the lit cigarette away from his face, not that it was really helping. The air around them was saturated with the thick gray smoke. What Butters really needed was to be somewhere where the air was clear, but there was no way he was moving while his friends were there.

Kenny took a long drag from his own cigarette, trying to get the most out of it from one pull, and dropped it to the ground. He stomped on it with his left foot, grinding it into the asphalt with a little more aggression than was necessary. “Well I’m done. How about you guys?”

Bebe took his cue and stomped hers under her foot. “Yeah, me too.” She said, turning to Butters and staring at his own cigarette, hanging limply from his fingertips. “Butters? You ready to get inside?”

Butters looked relieved. “I s-sure am.” He wheezed, sounding like he had gargled with gravel this morning. He dropped it and ground the (mostly untouched) cigarette. He smiled at them. “That sure was fun, wasn’t it?”

Kenny shook his head, amazed at how committed Butters was to this charade. “You don’t have to keep pretending, you know.”

“Who’s pretending?” Butters asked, his eyes going wide. A little too wide to be genuinely confused or innocent. “Not me.”

Bebe toyed around with her hair, unable to look him in the eye. “You know Butters, if you want to quit I’ll support your decision one hundred percent.”

He quickly shook his head, sending another round of coughing through his body. It was awful how much he’d been coughing lately. “It’s… It’s nice of you t-to say, Bebe. But really, I’m h-having a lot of fun.”

Kenny felt the guilt flooding his mind. It was so obvious that Butters wasn’t having fun, or even remotely enjoying himself, but he was being so stubborn. Kenny wished that Butters had never gotten the idea to smoke with them in his head.

“Come on you two, let’s get to class!” Butters said, sounding enthusiastic despite the scratchy voice. He might have been the only person in South Park High who actually enjoyed going to class.

Bebe immediately followed him, but Kenny took his time walking after them. He stared long and hard at the three half smoked cigarettes lying on the floor. It was funny how a week before this same sight might have made him a little angry. After all, cigarettes cost money and who in their right minds would waste so much? But now they just made him sad. Butters’s was easily the longest, but even so it looked to be the worst of the lot.

Too much of it had gone into Butters’ lungs.

“Hey, Kenny?”

He looked up to see Butters hesitating at the door. Bebe must have already gone inside.

“Everything okay?” Butters asked, looking concerned.

Amazing. The fact that Butters could so easily put those toxins in his body for Kenny’s sake and still be worried for Kenny’s well being was nothing short of amazing. He didn’t want Butters to worry about him when his own health was so messed up.

He shook his head clear of those thoughts and walked over to him. “I’m fine.” He said, forcing himself to smile. After all, he couldn’t worry Butters more than he already had.

\--

“I’ve decided that I want to quit smoking.”

The two blonds stared in amazement at what their friend had just said. It seemed that the statement had rendered them both speechless. Bebe was the first one to recover and voiced the question that both of them were thinking. “What do you mean that you want to quit smoking?”

Kenny tossed his last pack of smokes onto Bebe’s coffee table and wiped his hands clean of them. “Just what I said. I’m quitting cold turkey right here, right now.”

Butters stared at the half empty box for a few seconds before turning his surprised gaze to Kenny. “Why are you doing this Kenny?”

Kenny was glad that he had been wearing his hood up today, because it hid his embarrassed expression from them. “I finally realized what you had tried to tell me before was right, Butters. Smoking is bad, and I don’t want to lose any more time with you. And Bebe.” He added, feeling that he needed to include her as well.

Butters was clearly pleased to hear this, but he tried not to let it show so obviously. “Really? How come it hit you so suddenly?”

He averted his eyes when he answered. “I don’t know. I just know that I’m quitting for good. And, uh, I think you two should quit too.”

Bebe didn’t look too certain about that, but she didn’t look opposed to it either. “Are you suggesting that we all quit together then?”

Kenny nodded. “That’s right. I think that if we all quit at the same time, we’ll be better about staying clean. Er, if that’s the right word.”

“We can make it a support system!” Butters exclaimed, looking happier than he had in a week and a half. “And if anybody gets the urge to smoke again, we can call each other, and stop each other from relapsing!”

“Hang on, I never agreed to that!” Bebe said. She grabbed one of the longer strands of her hair and played around with it. “If we all quit, which I’m not saying that I am, what do we do with the cigarettes that we already bought?”

Kenny shrugged. “Sell them to younger kids?”

Butters’s eyes widened in horror. “Kenny, we can’t do that! That would be an awful thing to do, getting younger kids hooked.”

Kenny laughed nervously, mentally slapping himself. “I was kidding. That was a joke. What do you want to do with them?”

“Throw them out of course.” Butters said, frowning. “That wasn’t a very funny joke.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Kenny said, feeling like an even bigger jerk. “We could do that instead.”

Bebe didn’t look happy with that. “Can’t we just finish the ones we have and quit right after that?”

Butters looked disappointed. “Don’t you want to quit with us, Bebe?”

She froze at the sight of his sad eyes. “I, uh… I do want to. I was just thinking of the expense, Butters.”

Now Butters smiled. “Oh if that’s all that’s standing between you and quitting, I’ll be more than happy to pay you back for the ones you already bought. You and Kenny both!”

“That’s not necessary.” Kenny said, smiling at the thought of Butters paying for his cheap ass cigarettes. “I just want the three of us to stop smoking together.”

Bebe looked like she knew that she’d lost this round. She grabbed the nearest throw pillow and hugged it to her chest. “I don’t need you to pay for me either. I’m in too.”

Butters looked so happy that one would think that someone had just given him a winning lottery ticket. “This is so great! I’m going to make us a cake to celebrate this brand new chapter in our lives. Bebe, can I use your oven?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, sure. You know your way around, right?”

He laughed, like she’d told some big joke. It was nice hearing him be that happy again. “Of course I do, you know how often we’ve baked together.”

The minute he was out of the room, Bebe turned her suspicious eyes towards Kenny. “You are totally wrapped around his little finger, Kenny.” She said, completely serious.

“What the hell?” He asked, confused as to where this was coming from.

“You’re wrapped around his little finger. Didn’t you hear me the first time?” She said, and she raised an eyebrow to emphasize her point. “I mean, I always knew you would do anything he said, but this?”

Kenny chewed on the inside of his cheek, knowing where she was getting at but deciding to play dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not wrapped around his little finger.”

She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. “Yes you are. Or maybe it’s something else of his you want to be wrapped around, whatever.”

He pushed on her shoulder, not trying to knock her down on the floor but doing it anyways. “Shut the hell up, that’s not how it is with me and Butters.”

She frowned up at him from the floor, clearly put out at being shoved like that, but continued her tangent. “Oh sure, so you’re just giving up smoking to make a friend happy. I’ve never seen someone as lovestruck as you are right now.”

“That’s not it.” He said, feeling himself starting to get hot under his parka. Sure, he was quitting for Butters’ sake and yeah, he was more concerned about Butters’ health than his own, but that didn’t mean what she thought it meant. “I was just worried about him and I knew that he wouldn’t quit until we did.”

She cast her gaze upwards, as if she was his mother and didn’t know what else to do with him. “Fine, you can deny it all you want, but I can see why you’re doing this. And I’m definitely okay with that you know. You two are going to make a really cute couple. But next time you’re going to do some grand romantic gesture for Butters, try to keep me out of it.”

“I didn’t—!” He started, ready to deny everything again. He was cut off by the sight of Butters in a cute pink apron, holding a large spoon and grinning at the two of them.

“Hey you two, aren’t you going to come in and help me?” He asked, expression turning to one of confusion when he saw Bebe on the floor. “Oh, did something happen?”

Bebe shook her head and quickly got to her feet. “Everything’s cool, I just feel off the couch.” 

The crinkle of worry instantly left Butters’ face and the smile returned. “Okay. So what do you say? I was thinking of making a chocolate cake, what do you think?”

“Oh, you know exactly what a girl needs when she’s giving up something.” Bebe said, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around him. “Kenny, what do you say?”

He avoided looking into either of their eyes when he answered. “Alright, I love chocolate.”

“Come on, let’s get started then!” Butters said, gesturing for him to follow them into the kitchen.

Kenny followed them in, rolling his eyes at the knowing looks that Bebe was sending him. So maybe he cared for Butters a little more than he’d first thought, so what? It’s not like that was a bad thing.

“Kenny, do you want to lick the extra batter when we’re done?” Butters asked, looking up at him with those incredibly cheerful eyes of his. 

He felt himself nod. “Definitely.”

It was worth giving up smoking to see Butters looking so happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh look, even more fluff~ With generous amounts of Bebe, because I love that girl. I'm not too sure about the pacing in this chapter... Let me know if it's alright or if I should work on it.


	22. Scar

Butters rubbed at his eyes for the third time in the past ten minutes, and Kenny was starting to worry. He didn’t look like his usual happy self. In fact, he looked pretty run down. There were bags under his eyes and he wasn’t talking half as much as he normally did. Kenny decided to ask him what was wrong.

“Are you okay?” Kenny asked the shorter teen, leaning next to his arm and looking down at the essay he was working on. “You look tired.”

“Hm?” Butters blinked up at him, slow to realize that Kenny was addressing him. When he did, he shook his head. “No, I’m not tired. I’m fine.”

“Did you get enough sleep last night?” Kenny asked, tilting his head to better read the words that Butters was writing down. It was something about the civil war, maybe for History class?

Butters rubbed at his eyes again, and that was answer enough for Kenny. Still, Butters nodded. “I got enough. We don’t need more than six hours to function properly, after all.”

He raised an eyebrow. It sounded like something Cartman would say. “So you got six hours of sleep then?”

Butters toyed with the end of his pencil. “Well, only four actually…”

“Wait, why only four hours?” Kenny asked, surprised to hear that Butters had gotten such a small amount of sleep. He was usually the King of getting to bed early and waking up with the sun.

Butters gestured to the essay he was currently writing. “I had a lot of homework to do. With finals coming up, my honors classes are making us study a lot more than usual.”

“Well that sucks.” Kenny wrinkled his nose at the mention of honors classes. He couldn’t believe that half of his friends really wanted to put themselves through things like honors and advanced placement classes. He was fine with regular classes, thank you very much.

Butters nodded. “I was up until three in the morning writing notes and doing the assignments. But I still didn’t get to finish my history essay.”

Kenny brought his hand up and ran his fingers through Butters’ soft hair. He looked like he enjoyed it. “You really look like you could use a nap.”

Butters shook his head and picked up his pencil. “I don’t have time for naps, Kenny. I can sleep during the summer when school’s done.”

Kenny felt the corners of his mouth turning down, hearing Butters talk like this. He was going to wear himself out with the lack of sleep and all the homework he was doing. He looked around the half empty library. Nobody was really looking in their direction, and even if they were, they wouldn’t care what he did.

He stood up and brought Butters up with him. Butters looked up at him in confusion and was about to ask what he was doing when Kenny brought his finger up to his lips and motioned for him to follow. It was one of the few times that Kenny was glad that Butters was so compliant because the shorter blond simply followed him behind a row of book shelves that nobody was browsing through.

Kenny looked around and when he was satisfied that they were truly alone, he sat down behind the shelves and brought Butters down with him. “This is a great spot, don’t you think?”

“A great spot for what?” Butters asked, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“To take a nap.” Kenny said, like it should have been obvious. “No one’s around, it’s quiet…”

Butters shook his head. “I told you Ken, I can’t afford to take a nap right now. I have to get back to that essay—”

Kenny grabbed his hand before he could move to get up from the floor. “Of course you can afford to take a nap. Essays and assignments can wait, your health can’t.”

Butters was already wavering in his decision to get back, Kenny could tell by the way he was mashing his knuckles together. “But I was in the middle of the topic sentence.”

“Topic sentences are stupid anyway.” Kenny said, smiling when he managed to get Butters to giggle at his lame attempt at an excuse. “Come on, just for a half hour. Then you can get back to civil wars or whatever it is you have to write about.”

Butters thought about it for another minute, no doubt weighing the pros and cons in his head. But Kenny knew that he had already won, because Butters nodded after a moment. “Alright, I’ll take a little nap. I’ll just go get my sweater and—”

“You don’t need a sweater when you have me.” Kenny said, pulling Butters down into his lap. Butters blinked up at him, probably wondering if this was okay, and he nodded. He was very gentlemanly about the situation, not even cracking a joke about having Butters so close to his crotch.

Butters smiled up at him sleepily. “Thanks Kenny. You’re such a good friend.”

Kenny winked down at him. “Just call me your knight in rusty armor.”

“Knights don’t have rusty armor.” Butters murmured, his eyes already drifting closed. It wasn’t even a minute later before Butters was fast asleep.

Kenny took this opportunity to really look at Butter while he was sleeping peacefully. He looked much more relaxed now that he wasn’t worrying about essays and studying. Kenny ran his fingers through the soft yellow locks of hair that were just long enough to be tousled. Butters always had such soft hair. Kenny wondered what kind of shampoo he used. He leaned down and sniffed the top of the shorter blond’s head. It smelled like strawberries.

Butters was really cute if you looked at him long enough. He had these really faint freckles dusting his cheekbones that you couldn’t help but want to touch. So Kenny did just that. And his lips were a soft pink and were slightly parted with his breathing. Kenny resisted the urge to touch those too. 

Sure they were in a semi-relationship at the moment, but Kenny still wasn’t sure what the boundaries were. He could let Butters sleep in his lap, no problem. But he couldn’t just let himself touch him in any way he wanted too. They were taking it slow.

He almost laughed, only keeping quiet because of Butters. It was hard to imagine himself taking anything slow. But he was more than willing to go at the pace that Butters set, and not pressure him to go further if he didn’t want to.

Kenny followed the rest of Butters’ features with his eyes. His nose was small and cute, perfect on his face. And his eyelashes were long and golden. Kenny was often mesmerized by the way they fluttered against his cheeks, they were so long.

He paused when he noticed a light discoloration across Butters’ left eyelid. He leaned in closer and stared for a few seconds, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. It was long and thin, going across both the upper and lower eyelids. It reminded him of fourth grade for some reason. What was it about this strange mark that…

The realization suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks.

It was a scar from the time he threw a ninja star into Butters’ eye.

A flood of guilt made its way through his body. Oh god, he had forgotten all about that. He couldn’t help himself and traced his finger as lightly as possible across the pale little scar that he had made with his stupid weapon. He had been such an idiot back then, to throw a freaking ninja star right at his face. 

He wondered if it still hurt. It didn’t look particularly bad, but Kenny knew better than anybody that the memory of an injury could hurt a lot worse than the scar that was left behind. He kept lightly touching the scar, letting that day replay in his mind. Butters had screamed so loud, and as much as he hadn’t really cared for the guy back then, Kenny could feel the guilt eating away at him now.

To think that he was once only concerned that Butters would tell on him about the weapons. Now all he wanted was to hold him close and tell him how sorry he was that he had thrown it in the first place.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, looking down at Butters’ sleeping face. He tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. “God, I’m such an idiot.”

“Mm, Kenny?” Butters groaned, his eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks as he blinked up at him. “Why’re you an idiot?”

“No reason, Butters.” Kenny internally cursed himself for saying that out loud. As if it wasn’t bad enough he’d personally scarred his sort-of boyfriend, now he had taken away the little amount of sleep he still desperately needed.

Butters frowned up at him. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, Kenny.”

Kenny shook his head. “You should. If I wasn’t an idiot, you wouldn’t have that scar on your eye.”

Butters blinked and brought his hand up to his left eye. “The scar?”

Kenny nodded. “I can’t believe that I’ve never noticed it before. It’s from the ninja star I threw at you, isn’t it?”

“Uh, well…” Butters started, lifting himself from Kenny’s lap to look at his face. “Yes, it is. But it’s not that big of a deal, you know.”

Kenny raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Not a big deal?” He echoed.

“It’s not, really.” Butters insisted, closing his left eye to show him the pale mark. “Look, you can barely notice it unless you’re looking up close. It doesn’t hurt either. I don’t mind it.”

Kenny brought his knees up to his chest and looked away. He found that he couldn’t look Butters in the eye anymore. “You should. It’s my fault you have it in the first place. I wouldn’t blame you if you did blame me.”

“I’m not mad, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Butters said, leaning next to him. “And it doesn’t affect my vision much anymore.”

“Anymore?” Kenny said, feeling fresh guilt roll through him. “What what do you mean by that?”

Butters realized that he shouldn’t have said that and started mashing his knuckles together. “W-Well, I used to get headaches when I tried to read in the dark or strained my eyes, b-but it doesn’t happen anymore!” He was quick to add when he saw the expression on Kenny’s face. “It was only the first couple of months after, I can see fine now.”

“I’m sorry.” Kenny said, wondering how hard it must have been for Butters at first. He hadn’t even bothered to ask him about how he was doing back then. “I’m the worst.”

“No you’re not.” Butters said, wanting to make him feel better. “It all happened too long ago to matter now, Kenny!”

Kenny sighed. “It still left you a scar, Butters. I feel so guilty that you had to go through that and I never bothered to find out how you were doing and—”

He was abruptly cut off by Butters pressing their lips together. He stared, wide eyed, at the younger boy’s action before quickly forgetting why he did it in the first place and kissing him back. They had only kissed a few times before, and Butters had rarely been the one to initiate it. It was nice, having Butters take the lead.

When they broke apart for air, Butters smiled up at him. “Do you still think I should blame you?”

“Yes.” Kenny said, but before Butters could protest he continued. “You should blame me, but I can see that you don’t. Why don’t you though?”

Butters rolled his eyes, a rare move for him. “I just told you. It happened such a long time ago that it doesn’t matter anymore. It was an accident.”

Kenny leaned back against the books and Butters cuddled next to him. “So you never blamed me for that?”

Butters stifled a giggle into his sleeve. “I didn’t say that. I was angry at first, but you’re a good person and you’ve done a lot of good things for me since then. Those outweigh any bad things you did as a kid.”

Kenny felt both relief and shame that Butters had held some anger for him. “I’m still sorry for what I did.”

Butters leaned up and kissed his chin. “You’re forgiven.”

Kenny looked at his watch. “You still have ten minute to nap, you know.”

Butters glanced around the area, an almost mischievous look on his face. “Maybe I don’t want to go back to sleep.”

Kenny raised his eyebrow, wondering if Butters mean what he thought he meant. When he leaned in, Kenny knew for sure and leaned in too. No one ever came back here, did they? Well if they did, they’d just have to deal with the two blond boys kissing each other.

Sleep, making out, both were good for someone who needed a break, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This one's a little shorter than the last two, but that's okay right? Have some semi-boyfriend fluff~


	23. Midnight

Butters looked around at the half-drunken party goers with bored eyes. He knew most of the people that were hanging around the couch he was sitting on, but he didn’t get up to talk to them. He’d been sitting on this couch since the party had started at eight, and it was now five minutes until midnight. Five minutes until the New Year started, and Butters had no one to ring it in with.

Well, it wasn’t that he didn’t have anyone to spend it with. It would be very easy to find one of his friends, like Bebe or Stan here. The party was being held at Stan’s house, after all. But he just didn’t want to elbow his way into someone else’s conversation, not tonight. There was only one person he wanted to be with when the clock struck twelve, and he wasn’t allowed within a hundred feet of where Butters was.

Butters felt so angry as he thought about the dumb, no STUPID, restraining order that his parents had put on Kenny. Just because his dad had caught the two of them kissing on his bed (just kissing! Nothing worse than that), Stephen and Linda had gone and gotten a court order against Kenny, and now they couldn’t see each other. Kenny had even gotten kicked out of school because of it.

Butters clenched his hands into fists. He hadn’t taken this lying down at least. He had run away from home, and was currently staying with Stan until Kyle’s dad could help him and Kenny out of this jam. But until he could, the restraining order was still in effect, and if they were even near each other, Kenny would go to jail. It had been almost a whole month since Butters had last seen Kenny’s face up close.

“Hey, how are you holding up?”

Butters snapped out of his reverie to look up at the person who had addressed him. Stan’s darker blue eyes blinked down at him, concerned. Butters worked up the most cheerful smile that he could muster and shrugged. “I’m doing alright, Stan. Thanks for asking.”

Stan didn’t look convinced at all. “Are you sure? You were looking pretty down just now.”

Butters nodded. “You don’t have to worry about me. Like I said, I’m alright.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Stan said and took the space next to him (which there was a lot of, since nobody wanted to sit next to the brooding boy tonight). He nodded over to Butters’s hands. “Those aren’t exactly in good shape, Butters. And that’s how we can usually tell that you’re upset.”

Butters looked down at his hands, surprised to see that the skin around his knuckles was rubbed raw and red. “O-Oh.”

“Hey, talk to me.” Stan said, settling himself into his spot on the couch. “You know I’m willing to listen.”

Butters did know that. Sometimes, in the middle of the night when he was feeling too upset or couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, he went over to Stan’s room and talked to him. Stan always took it well and listened to him for hours as he talked about how angry he was with his parents, or how much he missed Kenny, or whatever else Butters needed to say. But he didn’t want to ruin Stan’s night, it was his party after all.

“I’ll be okay, Stan.” He said, and this time the smile he gave him was more genuine. “Go on and enjoy yourself.”

Stan’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Look, this party sucks anyways. I’m not missing out on anything by talking to you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Butters tilted his head. “But what about Kyle?”

Stan’s face went a little red at the mention of his recently acquired boyfriend, but he shook his head. “He’ll understand if I spend some time trying to cheer you up. He’s worried about you too.”

“But you shouldn’t miss out on the New Year on my account.” Butters said, pointing to the large clock over the door that the Marshes had put up especially for this occasion. The huge numbers signaled that it was almost time. “See?”

Stan followed his arm and his eyes widened. “Oh damn, is it almost midnight already?”

Butters nodded. “Go have fun with Kyle, okay? I’ll be okay by myself for a few of minutes.”

Stan was clearly torn, his eyes shifting from Butters to the clock. He wanted to be a good friend, Butters could tell, but he also wanted to be a good boyfriend and right now he couldn’t do both at the same time. “Butters, are you sure that you’ll be okay for a little while?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me. Go have fun” Butters said. As soon as the sentence was out of his mouth, Stan was already standing and scanning the crowd for familiar red hair. Butters didn’t take it personally. If there was any chance that Kenny was around, he would have done the same thing Stan was doing. 

“Okay, I’ll check on you later then.” Stan said, giving him one last worried backwards glance before leaving.

Butters waved, even though Stan wouldn’t see it. When he couldn’t see the dark haired teen through the throng of people anymore, he sighed and stood up too. He didn’t want to be here anymore, where the crowd was. He was a cloud of sad in the sky of happiness that was their party, and it would be much nicer for everyone if he was out of the picture. He went up the stairs, glad that there weren’t too many people loitering around the stairs.

The hallway he walked down was very familiar now. Before all this had happened, he went up to the second floor of the Marsh house maybe three times a year. But now that he was living here, he went up and down the hall at least four times a day. He even knew exactly what family photos were hanging on the walls between the stairs and Shelley’s room, where he was currently staying while she was away at college.

He still felt a little uncomfortable opening the door. It had been a month, but he still wasn’t used to entering a room that was once forbidden for him to even walk past (Shelley had gotten a little nicer since they were kids, but he still treaded cautiously around her). He took a deep breath and pushed the door open, flicking the lights on as he crossed the threshold.

And nearly screamed when he realized that someone was already in the room.

He managed to jam his fist against his mouth to muffle his scream, and when he recognized the familiar orange parka that the person was wearing he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming again.

“It’s been a while, huh Buttercup?” Kenny said, smiling that familiar smile that made his insides turn into mush.

He was speechless. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, wondering if maybe his mind had manifested an illusion of Kenny for him. He almost believed that he was really that desperate to see him. But when he opened his eyes, Kenny was still there.

Kenny opened his arms towards him. “Is that any way to greet me after being apart for so long?”

Butters didn’t have the will to stay where he was anymore. He threw himself at Kenny and warm arms caught him and wrapped around his waist. Butters could feel his eyes prickling with tears as a soft sound bubbled out of his throat, and he didn’t know what his body wanted to do more, cry or laugh. “Kenny.” He managed to say before his tears decided that they wanted to come out first.

“Hey.” He felt Kenny’s lips at his temple and he had to close his eyes because _how was this even possible?_

They sat on the bed like that for a few moments, and his tears quickly dried up. Kenny moved them a couple of inches apart and Butters hated even that amount of space between them. “We should close the door before someone sees me.”

Butters blinked and realized that he had left the door wide open. Anybody could have come around and seen them like that. He quickly got up and ran over to the door, closing it and locking it behind him for good measure. When he turned around, Kenny was standing and walking towards him. Butters met him halfway and wrapped his arms around him as tightly as he could without hurting him.

“What are you doing here?” He asked into Kenny’s collarbone. He tilted his head up to look into Kenny’s face while still sticking as close as he could to him. “We’re not supposed to see each other until—”

“I know.” Kenny said, stroking his cheek. He looked as sad as Butters felt. “I missed you so much.”

Butters leaned in to the touch. It was as if he’d been starved for contact, and Kenny was the only one who could satisfy him. “I’ve missed you too.” He whispered.

“I had to come see you.” Kenny told him, staring into his eyes. “I don’t care if I’m caught and get sent to jail. I needed to see you.”

“I needed to see you too.” Butters said, breaking the eye contact to hug him again. He had wanted to be close to Kenny again for so long, and now he was finally getting his wish. He understood that if anybody knew that he and Kenny were within a hundred feet of each other, Kenny would be sent to jail with a bunch of criminals until Kyle’s dad could get him a court date. Butters didn’t want to think about how awful it would be for him.

“It really sucks that we can’t be together.” Kenny said, stroking small circles in Butters’s back. It was at that moment that Butters realized that he had started crying again, and hard. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s n-not your fault.” Butters said, reaching up to wipe away his tears. Of course, it wasn’t any good since more followed, but this was a happy reunion for them. He couldn’t ruin it by crying. “I’m s-sorry my parents were stupid.”

Kenny leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Shh, it’s alright. We’re going to beat that restraining order. Kyle’s dad got me a court date.”

Butters blinked up at him. “He did?”

“Yeah, only it’s not for a while.” Kenny brushed away a few of the tears with his thumb. “We’re going to have to be apart for at least another three weeks.”

“That long?”Butters felt the lump in his throat suddenly grow. He had barely lasted this long, and now they were going to have to be apart for that much longer? It wasn’t fair.

“I know, it sucks ass. And it’s totally unfair.” Kenny said, noticing the stricken expression on his face. “But we have this time right now, let’s not waste it.”

Butters nodded. Kenny was right, they didn’t have much time and there was no use in spending it crying over the fact that it would be another very long time until they could see each other again. He leaned up and pressed his lips against Kenny’s, and he let himself forget about tomorrow or the next day, or the one after that.

All he needed was tonight.

There was a small beeping noise nearby, and it was strange enough for him to open his eyes just a little. Kenny pulled away only far enough for him to be able to speak. Their lips were still brushing.

“Midnight.” He whispered, a soft smile forming on his lips. “You know what that means?”

Butters nodded, brushing their lips together with every motion. “Traditionally, it means that we’re going to be together for the rest of the year.”

“That’s a good sign, right?” Kenny asked. In answer, Butters pulled his head down and pressed their mouths together again.

They pressed together as tightly as they could, getting rid of any space between them. It had been so long since they had been together, and Butters didn’t hesitate when Kenny’s hands went underneath his shirt. He wanted to have Kenny touch him, wanted to touch him back. His breathing became ragged when Kenny’s fingers brushed against the sensitive skin of his chest.

Kenny broke off the kiss suddenly, leaving Butters feeling confused and little empty. When he saw Butters’s expression, he shook his head and swallowed hard. “I really should leave now.” He said, glancing from Butters to the window. “Before we go any further.”

Butters tightened his grip on him, feeling the tears start to form on his eyelids. Kenny couldn’t leave now, not so soon, not when they knew how long it would be until they saw each other again. “I don’t want you to. Please don’t go.”

“I don’t want to either.” Kenny said, kissing the corner of his mouth. “I wish I could stay with you forever.”

Butters moved his hands from the back of Kenny’s neck to hold his face between them. “I only need tonight. Please.”

Kenny’s eyes widened and he let out a surprised laugh. “You’re making it really difficult to be rational right now, Buttercup.”

Butters kissed him softly and smiled. “I don’t want you to be rational right now.”

Kenny looked around the room for a second. “We’d have to be quick about it.”

Butters nodded. “That’s fine.”

He smiled and kissed him, long and slow. When they pulled away to breathe, Kenny pressed their foreheads together. “I love you.”

Butters smiled back, feeling his heart beat faster as they easily tangled their limbs together and fell onto the bed. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ooh, something a little more angsty~ Mm, I’m not too happy with a couple of sentences, but oh well. This is the last one for now, but I’ll be back with some more after Camp NaNoWriMo in July!


	24. Nightmare

"You seem a little out of it, Kenny. Are you okay?"

Kenny blinked at the voice, only just now realizing that someone was standing in front of him. He lifted his head and saw that Butters as looking up at him with concern in his wide blue eyes. He smiled at his expression and shook his head.

"I'm fine." He said, taking his hood down. For some reason he really wanted to feel the wind blowing through his hair. It was a nice enough day that he would welcome the feeling. "Why do you ask?"

Butters smiled at the sight of his face and shrugged his shoulders. "No reason. Sometimes it's just nice to hear someone askin' if you're okay. Don't you think?"

"I guess so." Kenny said, raising an eyebrow. More often than not, Kenny preferred it if people just left him alone. But Butters was always so genuinely concerned about him that it didn't really bother him when he asked questions like that.

"So what are you doing here so late?" Butters asked, always one to keep a conversation going. He gestured to the mostly empty school parking lot where Kenny had been loitering around before he'd come over. "Are you waiting for anybody?"

Yeah, you. Kenny wanted to tell him. He'd been walking home afterschool with Butters for a couple of weeks now, timing it so that they bumped into each other as they were leaving the building. Only today Butters had stayed later than usual, doing research or something in the library. So Kenny had sat down on the curb in the parking lot and waited until he saw Butters coming down the steps and hastily stood up while trying to look casual about it. Only Butters had inexplicably gone back in (he'd probably forgotten something there) and Kenny had stood there waiting again. It had taken so long form him to come back that he had gotten lost in his own thoughts for a while.

Kenny didn't tell him any of that though. Instead, he shook his head and answered, "Nah, just killing time until I have to be home. Why are you here late?"

Butters' face colored in embarrassment and he smiled sheepishly at him. "Oh, I was supposed to do some research for a group project yesterday, but I forgot all about it until last period. I only just finished gathering all the information."

"Oh yeah, information. Love doing that." Kenny nodded, as if he actually cared about doing research and didn't just copy and paste most of his homework assignments off of Wikipedia. "Are you going home now?"

Butters nodded and his eyes lit up. "Yeah, do you want to walk home together?"

Kenny tried to look casual when he answered. "Sure, why not?"

"Come on then." Butters smiled up at him and gestured for him to follow as he started walking.

Kenny couldn't help letting his eyes trail down as Butters was walking away. It wasn't his fault that Butters had a cute butt, of course he was going to look! It wasn't like he was being lecherous about it, like when he joked around with Kyle or anything. He just really liked the way Butters filled a pair of jeans.

He smiled to himself and followed him, trying to keep his expression innocent (which was no easy task) as he caught up.

He was probably only three feet away when everything when to hell.

It happened too fast for him to do anything to stop it. There was a bright flash in the sky, so bright that it blinded him for a moment. Kenny blinked, trying to clear his vision, and the next thing he knew, something big was hurdling from the sky. It took him a second to realize that it was heading straight for them, and by then it was too late to run or move or do anything, really.

Kenny only had time to think, wow I can't believe it's a plane that kills me today, and close his eyes before the flying debris reached him. Only his didn't the feel pain from burning plane parts searing into his skin when it landed. In fact, he felt nothing.

He did, however, hear a familiar voice crying out in pain.

He opened his eyes immediately and was shocked to see that it had missed him entirely and hit Butters instead. Time froze for a moment as that piece of information sunk in, and then he was running as fast as he could towards the shorter teen.

"Butters! Oh shit, Butters!" Kenny cried, sinking to his knees next to him. It was hard to take in the scene in front of him. Butters was pinned underneath what looked to be a wing of a small airplane, the lower half of his body beneath the metal. Butters' face was contorted with pain, and his hands were grasping out to reach something, anything. Kenny quickly gave him his hand, and he locked onto him in a vice-like grip.

"Kenny?" Butters asked, his voice tiny. Maybe from the shock, or from the pain, or both, Kenny couldn't tell. "What… what happened?"

Kenny swallowed hard, his mind racing for something to say that would be reassuring. When he spoke, his voice was shaking "Hey, you're going to be okay. Don't worry about a thing okay? Because you're going to be alright."

Butters blinked and tears started rolling down his cheeks. "I c-can't feel my legs, Kenny."

"You can't?" Kenny looked down and saw that the wing was still smoldering from the explosion. It was probably burning his legs. "Fuck… Don't worry, I'll get it off of you!"

He let go of the other boy's hands and tried to take it off of him. The heat from the metal burned, even through his gloves, and he almost let go out of instinct. But then he thought about how much it must be hurting Butters, and put the pain out of his mind and continued trying to push it off of him. He'd faced pain a lot worse than this, no way was he going to stop.

It wasn't moving though. Kenny pushed and pulled, but it was too heavy for him to even budge. He felt his frustration and worry bubbling under the surface, but he tried to keep calm for Butters. The longer he was at it though, the more he started to panic. "Fucking move! Come on, move!" He started yelling, his breathing coming out in harsh pants.

"Kenny, stop." Butters whispered, almost too low for Kenny to hear him.

"I can't!" Kenny said, increasing his efforts and cursing the fact that he was too weak and too malnourished to have the strength to move this thing. "I have to get it off you!"

"Please stop." Butters said, and the tone he used was enough for Kenny to pause and look at him. Butters looked pale, so much paler than he usually was, like all the blood had left his face. His eyes were dull, and his expression was less pained and more resigned. He reached up a hand and Kenny took it without thinking. "There's n-nothing you can do."

Kenny shook his head, a tight feeling growing in his chest. "Of course there is. I'm going to get this off of you and take you to a hospital and—"

"It's too late." Butters mumbled, lifting the corner of his mouth in an attempt to smile. "I'm sorry. Y-You hurt your hands for n-nothing."

Kenny blinked, only now realizing that his gloves had been burned away and the skin on his hands was red and blistered. But that didn't matter now. "It's not too late Butters. I'm going to save you!"

He shook his head sadly. "You can't. A-And it's okay."

"It's not okay!" Kenny shouted, more to himself than to Butters. He screwed his eyes shut and let his head sink into Butters' chest. "I'm supposed be able to save everyone. You can't die, you just can't! I didn't get to tell you… I didn't…"

"It's okay, Kenny." He whispered again, his voice becoming fainter with each word. "I-It'll be okay."

He looked up and saw that Butters was closing his eyes. The grip on his hand was becoming weaker too. And suddenly, he was the one holding his hands in a vice-like grip. "Butters! Butters, don't go! Please, you can't, I—"

He cut himself off. It couldn't have been too late, right? Butters wasn't supposed to die, he was one of the few people who was supposed to live for years and years until they died of old age, he deserved it damn it! Butters wasn't dying, that wing shouldn't have hit him! It was meant for Kenny, why hadn't it hit him instead?!

Kenny kept trying to repeat these words in his head, trying to convince himself that if he thought them hard enough, they'd become true. He could come back, Butters couldn't, so why wasn't it happening already? He didn't care that dying really sucked, he was willing to die a hundred times over if this could just NOT BE TRUE, please god, please.

Butters wasn't moving anymore. He wasn't breathing, he… he wasn't alive anymore, was he? Kenny felt his eyes starting to sting, but he didn't move, didn't look away from Butters' still form. He couldn't be gone, not Butters. Even as he felt the body underneath him growing colder by the second, his thoughts wouldn't reconcile with the image in front of his eyes.

Butters couldn't be dead, could he? He wasn't, he couldn't be!

"Please don't be dead." Kenny whispered. He shook his head, letting the tears that had formed in his eyes fall. He couldn't control his voice anymore, and his words were coming out louder and louder. "It should have been me. I was the one who was supposed to die. I should be dead, not you! Just don't be dead, please!"

Only silence answered him. He felt a lump in his throat, but he didn't bother to swallow it down. This couldn't be real. There was no way that Butters, sweet, friendly, kind Butters, could be dead. He didn't, no couldn't, believe it. He closed his eyes and repeated it in his head. Butters wasn't dead, he wasn't dead, he wasn't, he wasn't—!

\--

Kenny sat up suddenly, his breathing coming out harsh and loud. He looked around wildly, trying to figure out where he was. The moldy walls that surrounded him looked familiar, and it only took second to realize that he was on his bed, in his room, and NOT right outside the school.

"A dream?" He whispered to himself. He brought his hands up to his face and stared intently at them. They were perfectly fine, a little calloused sure, but otherwise unharmed. He let his head fall down into them and tried to control his breathing. He didn't let himself think about anything other than trying to get it back to an even rhythm. In and out, nice and easy.

When it was finally back to normal, he lifted his head and stared at the water stain by his door. Had that really been just a dream? God, he hoped so. He looked down at his hands again, shaking from the memory. It had seemed so real though. He couldn't be sure it was really a dream until he saw Butters with his own two eyes.

He threw on whatever clothes he were lying on the ground, not caring if they were dirty or not. A quick glance at the beat up clock next to his bed let him know that it was still pretty early, barely six-thirty in the morning. Kenny knew that he was probably going to wake him up, remembering that today was supposed to be Saturday. But he couldn't just sit around and wait for it to be a reasonable hour, and Butters didn't have a cell phone, so this was his only option.

He left the house without seeing anybody on his way out. Which was normal, nobody in his family (save Karen on a school day) was ever awake at his hour. He pointed himself in the direction of Butters' house and started running as fast as he could. He ran until his sides started hurting, and then he only slowed down just enough to dull the ache. He didn't stop until he was standing in front of the Stotch house, then gave himself half a minute to catch his breath before he walked up to the door and started knocking.

When he heard someone moving around in the house, he realized that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be banging on the door so hard. He could get Butters in trouble with his parents for having visitors so early in the morning (or something to that effect). He held his breath, hoping that he hadn't woken up either of the older Stotches, as the door opened.

All those worried thoughts left his head though, when he saw Butters' sleepy face peeking from behind the door.

"Kenny?" Butters asked, his eyes widening at the sight of him. "What are you—?"

He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence though, because Kenny had thrown his arms around him and was hugging him as tight as he could.

"You're okay." He whispered, burying his face into Butters' shoulder. For the first time all morning, he felt like it was easier to breathe. "Thank god you're okay."

"Of course I am, silly." Butters said, instantly forgetting his earlier inquiry in favor of his friend's strange behavior. His arms came up and hugged him back without hesitation and Kenny couldn't help smiling. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason." Kenny mumbled in to his shoulder. He was so relieved to see Butters, right here, breathing and alive, that he never wanted to let him go. "I'm just so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too." Butters said. He shifted in Kenny's arms and laughed a little. "But you're hugging me a little too tight and it hurts. Could you ease up just a bit?"

Kenny blinked, and realized that he'd been hold Butters to him way too hard. He let go and tried to step back to give him some space. Butters didn't let him go too far though, keeping his own arms around him. He smiled. "Sorry about that."

"Is something wrong?" Butters asked, tilting his head as he took a good look at Kenny. "You looked really worried when I opened the door, and you've never come over this early before."

Kenny cast his gaze up, wondering if he should tell Butters about his dream. He didn't want to upset him this early in the morning, so he settled for saying, "I just really needed to see you."

Butters looked at him for a long moment and smiled. "I have a feeling that there's a little more to this situation than you're saying. Do you want to come in and tell me all about it?"

Kenny felt a little embarrassed as Butters untangled himself from him and grabbed his arm to lead him inside. "No, I don't want to bother you. I've already woken you up."

"It's okay, I was about to start making breakfast. You can join me if you want." Butters added, tugging him into the house.

Kenny found that he really couldn't put up a struggle and let himself be seated while Butters busied himself around the kitchen. He closed his eyes and let the sounds of Butters humming while he made breakfast soothe his nerves. Butters was right here, safe and sound in his kitchen. He didn't have to worry so much over a dream, did he? He opened his eyes to find a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him. He looked up and saw that Butters smiling down at him.

"You like them scrambled right?" He asked.

"Yeah. I like them any way." Kenny said, nodding. That smile. It was so much better looking at this one than the one from his memory. Thinking of that made him upset all over again. Even though he was starving, he suddenly didn't want to eat anymore.

Butters noticed the change in his mood right away. "Kenny, are you alright?"

He shook his head and pushed his food away. "Not really."

"Tell me what's wrong." Butters said, taking the seat next to him and grabbing the hand he had on the table.

Kenny cleared his throat. He might as well tell him. "I had a nightmare."

Butters' expression turned very sympathetic. "I hate having one of those. What was it about?"

"It was about…" Kenny swallowed hard. He didn't want to talk about this, didn't want to remember the way that Butters had looked in that dream, but Butters squeezed his fingers and he let the words come out. "It was about you dying."

Butters eyes widened, but he didn't move away. "Really?"

He nodded, keeping his eyes on their intertwined fingers. "We were outside of the school and there was a plane crash, I think, and a piece of the wing fell on you. I tried to get it off, but I couldn't save you."

"Kenny, it was just a dream." Butters said. "You don't have to be so upset about that."

"It felt so real though." Kenny said, and he became conscious of the fact that he was biting the inside of his cheek. He shook his head to get rid of the awful feeling he got when he thought about how it had felt. "And I came over because I needed to see you and make sure you were okay."

Butters smiled, his cheeks coloring a little. "Well I'm doing fine, no need to worry about me."

Kenny smiled back at him, feeling bold. "I think I'll be always worried about you when you're out of my sight."

"Oh, um, thank you." Butters said, his face turning a darker shade of pink. "I worry about you too."

They stayed like that for a while, just smiling and not letting go of the other's hand. Kenny was wondering if this would be the right time to lean over and kiss him, or if he should wait a little longer, when the smell of something burning snapped them out of the moment.

"I forgot about the toast!" Butters yelped, quickly standing up from the chair and hurrying over to the counter.

Kenny twisted in his chair to see him unplugging the toaster and putting two blackened pieces of toast on the counter. He bit back a laugh at Butters' dismayed expression and reached out his hand. "Hey, give them to me."

Butters shook his head. "No, this was my fault, I'll eat them myself."

Kenny reached over and plucked them from his hands. "Dude, it's cool. I like my toast dark."

"You're sure?" Butters asked, looking relieved that he didn't have to eat it. "I mean, you're not just saying that?"

He was, in fact, just saying that. But the expression on his face was more than worth stomaching burned toast, Kenny thought. He bit into a piece and gave Butters the toast that had been on his plate before. "Yeah, I'm sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Back with more chapters, woo~! I didn't write as many this time around, because I was writing a few long fics for another fandom ^^; But you don't care about my excuses, huh? I hope you like this!


	25. Rescue

Mysterion shivered underneath his cloak as a sudden gust of wind blew past his hiding spot on the roof. Fucking shit, it was cold. He was definitely wishing that he had sprung for the thicker fabric when he was making his new costume, but the one he’d gotten was five bucks cheaper and he really couldn’t afford to splurge this time around. The costume did its job well enough, it kept his body covered and his identity a secret, but damn did he miss his parka during his stake outs.

He grit his teeth and bared through it. He was currently on the lookout for the drug dealers that frequented the alleyway the roof he was on overlooked, and they would be arriving any minute. These losers had given him the slip twice now, and there was no way in hell that he was going to let them get away this time. One of them had approached Karen to be a drug mule yesterday. She of course said no (he was raising her right, dammit!) but the fact that it had happened pissed him off beyond belief.

He heard something moving to his left and immediately snapped his head in that direction. Instead of seeing those two thugs though, he saw a girl. The absurdity of it threw him off for a second. What the hell was a girl doing walking down a dangerous alley at one in the morning? He watched her, suddenly feeling concerned for her safety. 

She was wearing a coat that looked warm enough, but the skirt she had on was short and exposed a lot of leg. Her heels didn’t look very high from his vantage point, but they were definitely not the kind of shoes you wore on a cold night like tonight. She looked like she was shivering harder than he was. She must have been crazy to pick THIS place to walk through, since the only light came from the street and even then it was pretty dim.

Another sound to his right made him look away from her, and the sight made his eyes widen. There they were. The drug dealers he’d been waiting for were coming into the alley from the direction that this girl was walking towards. She didn’t notice them until after they’d already noticed her, and by then it was too late for her to turn back. He couldn’t see her face from up here, but the way her body tensed let him know that she had just realized the danger she was in.

He cursed his rotten luck as he watched the two drug dealers, Skull and Dice (that’s what they liked to call themselves, but their real names were Mike and Rodger; he had done a little research beforehand) approached her in a predatory manner.

“Hey there pretty girl.” Skull called, his low-pitched voice going an octave lower as he eyed her up and down. “What are you doing in such a dangerous place so late at night?”

The girl stopped walking, probably in an attempt to put some distance between her and the two men, but it didn’t do her any good. They kept walking towards her.

“Don’t be so shy.” Dice said, his voice significantly higher than Skull’s. He almost sounded like a prepubescent boy. “We just want to talk.”

The girl looked between the two of them, and though Mysterion couldn’t see her face, he knew that she was probably wide eyed and scared. Her voice shook when she spoke. “P-Please, I-I don’t want any trouble.”

The drug dealers gave each other a look and started laughing. Mysterion felt his hand involuntarily turn into a fist at their strident laughter, but he didn’t move. If he gave away his position too early, he’d lose the element of surprise, and even though he was fairly confident that he could take the both of them in a fight, he didn’t know if they had any weapons on them. He could handle getting shot or stabbed, no problem, but he couldn’t risk letting this innocent bystander getting caught in the crossfire.

So he watched and hoped that she would be okay as he tried to figure out a plan.

“I-I have money, if that’s what you want.” She said, reaching into her bag.

The drug dealers gave each other that look again. Skull was the one to answer her, taking the lead. “I think there’s something else that you can give us, don’t you think?”

“M-Maybe.” She whispered, still searching through her bag. Mysterion was just about to leap down, even though he still had no plan, when the girl pulled out a little tube and brought it up to Skull’s face. He heard a weird hissing noise and Skull screamed in agony, and it only took a second for Mysterion to realize that she had just pepper sprayed him.

He had to admit, that was impressive.

“You bitch!” Skull roared, taking a swipe in her direction. Too bad for him, the girl was already taking off in the opposite direction. Now that he was sure that she was out of harm’s way, Mysterion expertly made his way off the roof and down into the alleyway with the two thugs.

“How about you try messing with someone who can take you on?” He growled in his deepest voice, the one he reserved for when he was in costume.

The two thugs looked away from the girl at the sound of his voice. He could see a hint of fear in Dice’s eyes, but Skull was still squinting from the pepper spray. Mysterion knew that Dice was the more cowardly one of the two of them, and knew that he had the best chances of taking him out first. But he couldn’t have Skull, disabled as he was right now, at his back. He knew what he was going to have to do, but he wasn’t sure if he’d come out victorious.

But as long as he fucked them up, he supposed that it didn’t matter what they did to him.

“It’s that caped fucker.” Skull said through gritted teeth. He reached into his jacket, but Mysterion wasn’t about to let him get the first shot in. He ran over to him, quick as lightning, and punched him in the face. Skull stumbled back a few steps, and that afforded Mysterion the chance to reach over and pull the weapon (a gun, fucking coward) away from him.

He didn’t want to use it. As much as Mysterion hated these two fuckers, he wasn’t about to kill them in cold blood. God knows why, they were drug dealers and scum under his boots, but he couldn’t just end their lives in a shot. Maybe it was because, after all the different ways he had died, he didn’t want to be the one dealing that out. Or hell, maybe it was just because he wasn’t in the mood. For whatever reason, he tossed the gun over his shoulder and glared at the two of them, daring either one to try and go after it.

It seemed to be enough, for the moment. Skull returned his glare, but Dice was already starting to back up.

“I-I didn’t sign up for this.” Dice mumbled under his breath.

“Too fucking bad.” Skull hissed at him, cracking his knuckles as he sized up Mysterion through his stinging eyes. “If you’re too much of a pussy to help me, you might as well go after that bitch who pepper sprayed me.”

Mysterion felt his blood course hot through his veins. No. No fucking way was he just saying that. After all the trouble he went through to keep her safe, he was still going to say something like that?

He almost wished he still had the gun in his hands. Almost.

“Why mess with her when you can have me?” He mocked, smirking when Skull scowled at him. “Or are you not man enough to handle me?”

His jeers had the desired effect. Skull rushed at him, too angry to think that this was exactly what he wanted. Mysterion easily caught him off guard with a foot jammed in his stomach. Skull reeled back from the pain and Mysterion was glad that he had been working on his lower leg strength recently. He didn’t let the drug dealer recover from that and once again punched him in the face. Skull went down and Mysterion knew that he wasn’t going to be getting off that floor anytime soon. He turned his attention to the other drug dealer he came here for, only to see that he wasn’t anywhere to nearby.

“Fucking hell.” He muttered under his breath, scanning up and down the alley. He didn’t want to believe that Dice actually went after her, but he couldn’t risk otherwise. He gave Skull a final kick, this time in the head sot that Mysterion was sure that he wouldn’t be following, and ran in the direction that he remembered the girl going.

He kept his ears open when he reached the end of the alley, hoping that he would be able to hear her footsteps, or maybe Dice’s, but the only thing that he could hear was his own slightly-heavy breathing. He held his breath for a second, hoping that it would help, and he heard the faint sound of footfalls over to his left. They weren’t very far off, and he took off running in their direction.

“No please!” He heard just ahead of him in another alley. The voice sounded a little different from before, a little deeper, but it was still undeniably the girl from before. Mysterion quickened his pace, worried about what Dice might be doing to her. When he rounded the corner, he saw that Dice had, in fact, reached her and was holding her in a tight looking grip. He looked up when he saw Mysterion and brought out a knife and held it to the girl’s throat.

“Don’t you come any closer you caped freak!” Dice said, his voice shaking as hard as his hand. “Or the girl gets it!”

“Help me.” The girl whispered, looking at him with frightened blue eyes. There was something about them that seemed strangely familiar to him, but Mysterion didn’t have time to think about that right now.

“Let her go, Dice.” Mysterion said, standing absolutely still. He wasn’t about to rush over there and risk her getting hurt. He had to think, had to keep Dice talking. The longer he talked, the longer she would be safe. “You don’t want to hurt her, do you?”

“I’ll fucking do it!” Dice said, tightening the arm that was around her. He looked more than a little crazed, and Mysterion knew that he had to calm the drug dealer down before he did something to the girl.

“Do you know what cops do to murderers?” Mysterion asked, holding his hands up and creeping just a little closer. “Huh, Dice? Do you know?”

“N-No.” He muttered, distracted by the question. “What do they do to them?”

This was good, he was getting a conversation going. “They treat them a lot worse than they treat drug dealers for one. Have you ever been to jail, Dice?”

“Yeah...” Dice muttered, his eyes becoming a little unfocused at the memory. This let Mysterion get a lot closer. He was maybe ten feet away when Dice started talking again. “Yeah, I’ve been. It wasn’t fun. And there’s no way that I’m going back there!” He shouted, tightening his grip on the girl again.

“Fuck.” He whispered under his breath. He was going to have to do something soon. Dice was becoming more unhinged by the second, and he couldn’t afford to keep stalling. He looked back at the girl and locked eyes with her. He wanted to tell her not to worry, that he was going to get her out of this, but he couldn’t say that in front of the dealer. But he made sure she saw the confidence in his eyes, and he saw a spark in her own eyes (goddamn it, why were they so familiar?) that let him know that she understood.

Dice was still muttering about how he wasn’t going back to jail, that he wouldn’t be taken back alive and for a moment, he loosened his grip just a little as he was focused on what he was saying to himself. That moment was all that Mysterion needed though.

As fast as anything, he rushed over and grabbed the wrist holding the knife and twisted hard. Dice cried out in pain and instead of letting the knife go, he let go of the girl. She jerked herself out of the way and now Mysterion didn’t have to worry about her getting hurt.

He felt a sharp sting on his upper arm, but he ignored it as he curled his hand into a fist and punched the dealer in the stomach. Dice groaned and Mysterion quickly followed this up with a punch just under Dice’s chin. It sent the creep sprawling to the floor and Mysterion saw that he was out cold.

He could feel his breath coming out a little labored and harsh, and knew that he had gone a little overboard this time. He usually didn’t have to take on two guys in one night, and even in the cold night air he was feeling a little overheated. Well, he definitely wasn’t complaining about it being cold now, at least. He looked away from the thug he’d just knocked out and turned to look at the girl who he’d just saved.

She was still around, which he guessed was a good thing. Better than running off and encountering another group of jerks out to hassle her. She was looking a little ruffled after her ordeal, but more or less okay. Her skirt had ridden up a little, and Mysterion pointedly looked away from the exposed skin and up to her face. He wasn’t about to make her more uncomfortable than she already was.

She had a lot of make up on. Lipstick, eye shadow, eyeliner, and who knew what else that girl always put on their faces. It looked good on her, but the excess of it let him know that she hadn’t been coming home from a church meeting. Most likely, she had been out partying. Beneath all that make up though, he had a feeling that he knew the face from somewhere. It was the same feeling he got when he looked into her eyes.

“I… I um…” She was saying, her hands coming up from where they’d been resting at her sides. “Th-thank you for saving me.” 

“No problem.” He said, keeping his voice rough even though the imminent threat was over. Habit, of course.

“B-But you’re bleeding.” She said, and started rubbing her hands together as she looked at him with both nervousness and admiration in her eyes. 

That gesture. It was so familiar that the realization of who this girl was hit him so hard it almost knocked the breath out of him. This was Butters. 

He looked at his face and saw that the long blonde hair on his head was too shiny, too stringy to be natural. It was very obviously a wig though, the same one that he’d seen poking out of Butters’s locker a few times, along with a few tubes of lipstick. Butters had made him swear not to tell anybody, and of course he promised that he wouldn’t. There was no shame in dressing up like a girl.

He couldn’t let him know that he knew though. Butters didn’t know that he was Mysterion, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He looked at his right arm, and sure enough, there was a thin stream of blood flowing from a wound on his bicep. He must have gotten it during the struggle with Dice. It stung a little, but it was a scratch compared to some of the other injuries he’d gotten. The way Butters was looking at it though, you would have thought that he was on the verge of dying.

“It’s nothing.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. He was ready to turn and make a escape, when Butters spoke up again.

“You shouldn’t leave it untreated!” He exclaimed, stepping closer. He reached up, as if to touch him, but hesitated just before his fingers reached the bloodied material. He looked into Mysterion’s eyes, face a little pink. “I can, um, patch you up if you want me to. I don’t live very far, and it wouldn’t take long.”

Mysterion blinked, feeling as if he should be surprised. But this was Butters, of course he should have expected an offer like that. “I told you it’s nothing. You don’t have to—”

“It’s my fault that you got hurt though.” Butters said, biting his lower lip nervously. “Please? I don’t want it to get infected…”

Mysterion knew that he shouldn’t risk it. The he cops were probably on their way, and he needed to be around to make sure they didn’t fuck up when they took them away. But the way that Butters was looking at him, he knew that the guy wouldn’t be able to rest until he saw for himself that he was fine. 

“Alright, if it’ll make you feel better.” He mumbled, looking down at the drug dealer at his feet. “Just give me a second to tie them up, okay?”

Butters smiled, and although it was still worried, Mysterion felt that it was genuine. “Okay. Oh, I’m Butters by the way.”

He felt the corners of his lips turning up as he reached into his pocket (he couldn’t afford a utility belt unlike some OTHER caped crusaders) for the zip ties he carried around for these types of situations. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mysterion.”

\--

They had to sneak in through the window because, as Butters had put it, “If my parents caught me walking in through the front door looking like this with a bloody man in tow, I’d be grounded until I was old and gray!”

Mysterion couldn’t help grinning at that. Even after all that he had gone through, Butters was still more worried about getting grounded than anything else. It was reassuring in a way.

He’d never realized that Butters was so mischievous either. He cheerfully told Mysterion how he used the tree by his window to sneak in and out of the house all the time.

“I know that it’s not honest.” He said, letting Mysterion climb up first. Understandable, since Butters probably didn’t want him to look up that short skirt of his. “But sometimes I just want to go out dancing with my girlfriends and I know that they wouldn’t let me go out so late. I don’t do it often, just once or twice a month.” He added, as if Mysterion was judging him for it.

“I understand.” He said, reaching down and helping him up to the next branch. It wasn’t an easy climb, and he was impressed that Butters claimed to do this at least a few times a month.

Butters smiled and reached over to pull open his window. Once there was enough space for him to wriggle through, he put his hand to his mouth and made a shushing motion. “The walls are pretty thin, so we can’t talk above a whisper, okay?”

“Okay.” Mysterion said, pretending to press a key to his lips and throw away the key. “I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”

Butters went in first, and Mysterion managed to catch a small glimpse of the underwear that he was wearing underneath. He resisted the urge to tell him that his panties were cute and climbed in after him.

The room was familiar. He’d been in here a few times, when he and Butters were in the same group in school and they had to work on whatever project at home. But he hadn’t been here at night and under these circumstances, so it looked different to him. A haven of silence amid the hectic chaos of the outside world.

Wait, when did he become a freaking poet?

“This is a nice place you have here.” He whispered, trying to sound like he’d never been in this room before.

“Thank you.” Butters said, walking over to his bed. He motioned for Mysterion to take a seat. “You can sit here while I go get the first aid kit.”

“I’ll try not to bleed on your bed.” Mysterion joked as he went over and sat down.

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Butters said, looking like he wanted to laugh. “It’s my turn to do the laundry tomorrow, bleed all you want.”

Mysterion was about to say that he’d been joking, but Butters had already left the room. He shook his head, wondering again how Butters could be so completely normal about almost getting killed tonight. He wasn’t like Mysterion, who had to deal with this kind of a thing on a nightly basis. He was just Butters, a sweet guy who had a relatively normal life.

Then again, he could have just been hiding how freaked out he actually was.

It wasn’t long before Butters was back, first aid kit in his hands and wig off his head. Mysterion looked at his face carefully, to see if he’d been crying or something. But his eyes were dry, and they looked as bright as they usually did. He watched as Butters rolled up his shirt sleeve to get at the injury, which actually was a little bit more than just a scratch, and cleaned up all the blood that had dried on his arm. It wasn’t bleeding as badly as it had been out there, and as soon as Butters had finished, he reached down and grabbed a roll of bandages.

Butters did all this expertly, as if he’d done this before, or maybe seen it done. Mysterion wanted to ask how he knew so much, but this whole time Butters hadn’t said a word. He was entirely focused on the task at hand and he found that he didn’t want to disturb him. And okay, it might have been because Butters’s concentrated face was really cute.

Once the bandage was secured tightly (but not overly so) on his upper arm, Butters finally looked up from his work and smiled.

“That should do it.” He said, nodding to himself. “Does it feel alright? I could always retie it if you want me to.”

Mysterion shook his head, flexing his arm a bit to make sure it felt right. It did, of course. “It’s fine, Butters. Thanks for patching me up.”

“No problem.” The shorter teen said, putting away the left over supplies back in the first aid kit. “You’re always welcome to come here if you get hurt again.”

Mysterion felt his eyes widen. “Really? You don’t have to feel obligated to offer, you know.”

Butters tilted his head, looking adorably confused. “Obligated? Why would I feel obligated?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted you to know that you’re not, okay?”

“Okay.” Butters smiled warmly. “But I mean it mister, if you get hurt and need someone to take care of it, you just climb up that tree and knock on my window. Softly though, remember my parents.”

“I’ll remember.” Mysterion said, smiling right back. He couldn’t help it, Butters’s smile was kind of infectious. He cleared his throat and schooled his expression back into his familiar stoic mask, heading over to the window. “I should go now. Until our paths cross again.”

He climbed up to the window pane and gave one backwards glance before leaping towards the tree’s branches dramatically. He caught one above his head and planted his feet securely on the one beneath him, and quickly climbed down the tree.

Butters poked his head out his window, as if worried that he might not have made it. Mysterion caught the look of relief when he saw that he already had his feet planted firmly on the ground and waved cheerfully.

“Goodbye, Mysterion.” He whispered, barely audible from the ground.

“Bye.” He said under his breath, knowing that Butters couldn’t hear him, and took off for the cover of the night.

He had a feeling that he wasn’t just going to be coming around for the free first aid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I think this could technically count as the prequel to Chapter 2. It’s the same “Butters-doesn’t-know-Mysterion’s-identity” AU. I can’t write action-y scenes to save my life, but let me know what you think!


	26. Loss

Most of the nurses can't even look him in the eye anymore.

Kenny reached for the sign-in sheet, keeping his eyes on the unnaturally white paper as he asks his usual question. "How is he today?"

The head nurse, a good looking forty-five year old named Dorothy, answers him as usual. "He's about the same, Kenny. I'm sure that if he was awake, he'd really appreciate your daily visits."

He nodded, a force of habit by now, and finished signing his name. He's written it down so many times now that it doesn't look like chicken scratch anymore. It may not be Butters' flowery script, but at least it's legible.

Dorothy walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't have to look into her eyes to see the pity in them. "I really think you're helping him by visiting, kiddo."

He gives her as nice a smile as he's capable of giving. They both know that it's fake, but he needs this. He needs to be able to smile at people the way Butters used to, or he might go crazy. "Thanks. You're the best, Dorothy."

He walks away from the nurses' station and towards the familiar door. Room 507. He lets his eyes flicker over the name on the sign. Leopold Stotch. The whole reason he took three buses to get here. He takes a deep breath, steadying himself for the sight that will be in front of him in a few seconds. He conjures images of Butters from before, of his smiling face and the way his lower lip jutted out when Kenny was being particularly cheeky.

"Remember that." He whispered under his breath as he opens the door. The smiling boy that he remembers so well is nowhere to be found. Instead there's a shell of that person in the hospital bed, pale and small, more plastic tubes and needles than flesh and blood. There are at least three monitors beeping next to him, something to control his heart rate or his brainwaves or whatever, Kenny tried not to pay too much attention to the details.

This wasn't the same Butters he grew up with.

He took his usual space next to him in the chair Dorothy brought in a few weeks ago. She wanted him to have a nicer one than the rickety old plastic one that the hospital provided. He really didn't care what he was sitting on, but she did, so he'd thanked her and let her know that he really appreciated it. Butters would have approved of that, at least.

He looked down at him, feeling his heart throb painfully in his chest. He let his hand hover over him, afraid to touch him. He looked so fragile, like he could shatter at any moment. He wished that he could just take Butters in his arms and hold him, hold him until smaller arms wrapped around him and Butters was whispering in his ear, 'I'm okay, see? It was all a mistake. I'm okay.' But he wasn't okay.

He was dying.

It really hurt to think those words; he couldn't even say them out loud. But he couldn't deny it. Butters was dying and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

He felt so helpless. Really, here he was, capable of surviving being shot in the head, or being crushed to death, and he couldn't do a damn thing to save the person he loved. It really fucking sucked.

Kenny took a deep breath and forced a smile on his face. It hurt worse than it should have, but he had to try to keep it. Just in case. "Hey, Butters. How have you been?"

Butters didn't respond. He didn't expect him to, but god, he couldn't help but hope. It was stupid, the nurses, the doctors, even other patients he came across had told him that the prognosis was grim, but he always held his breath for a second. Hoping that Butters might answer him back, tell him about his day or about the nice people he'd met. But only silence that greeted him back.

He swallowed the sudden lump that had grown in his throat. Fuck, this hurt so bad. He reached for Butters' hand, holding it as gently as he was capable of, and sighed. It felt almost weightless, like his bones were hollow or something. Kenny remembered the days when Butters would be the one to grab his hand and squeeze it despite all the times Kenny had told him it was dumb and to stop doing it, and now here he was. Now it was Kenny who wanted to grab on and never let go.

"I've been alright." He whispered. He didn't have to keep his voice down, Butters couldn't hear him anyways. But if he pretended that he was just asleep, not in a coma, he could get through this. "Karen got that scholarship. She's going to college. Can you believe it? My little sister's going to be a success."

He knew that Butters would have been very proud of her. He'd become a sort of honorary big brother to her before all this had happened. It was actually thanks to Butters that Karen was even interested in going to college in the first place. Of course, Kenny should have been setting a better example for her, should have tried to go to college himself. But that wasn't even an option for him now. Not even close.

He cleared his throat, feeling that familiar lump tighten as he swallowed. He wasn't going to cry right now, he'd promised himself that he wasn't going to cry in front of Butters. He made sure he was still smiling (the corners of his mouth were at turned up, but the reflection of himself in the window showed him that it couldn't be called a smile, exactly) before he spoke again.

"My mom's doing good too." He said. "She got a promotion at the Olive Garden. I'm working there now, did I tell you that last time?"

Butters would have been proud of that too. He had always been pushing him to get his act together, though not in a way that felt condescending. Kenny had always thought that he wouldn't amount to anything in his life, like his father and his brother before him. But Butters made him want to better himself. It was too bad that he couldn't show Butters how much better off he was now.

He looked down at his still form. He hadn't moved once in the whole time he'd been talking to him. It wasn't fair. It really wasn't. Butters wasn't supposed to be in this position. He had a life to live still, a family that, while didn't visit him nearly as much as Kenny did, still cared about him. He wasn't supposed to be dying.

Kenny had never gotten to tell him just how much he loved him.

Oh sure, he'd told him those three words, more than once. But it wasn't nearly enough for him. He had always thought that there would be more time to tell Butters just how he made him feel, how he made him want to try harder, how the day always seemed just a little bit brighter the minute he saw his smiling face. But it was too late now. Butters was dying and he couldn't bring him back, couldn't let him hear what he was saying, couldn't do anything to help.

Fuck, he was pathetic.

It took him a few seconds to register the knocking just outside the door, and he had barely looked up to see Dorothy standing at the door. The light in the room was different now, and Kenny realized that he must have just been sitting there berating himself for a long time now. By the look on Dorothy's face, he must have lost that smile he'd been trying to maintain. He struggled to find it for a few moments before giving up.

"Hey Dorothy." He said. His voice sounded so raw. He tried clearing his throat, but aside from sending a sharp pain shooting through him, it didn't help. "What's up?"

She bit her lip, clearly not wanting to tell him whatever it was she'd come in to say. "I… I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a while."

He felt the corners of his mouth curve further down. "Why's that?" He asked, not recalling any tests schedules today.

She looked so uncomfortable that his heart (the twisted shreds that remained of it at least), went out to her. She took a deep breath before she spoke again. "Leopold's parents are here, and they want to see him. Without… without you in the room." She added at the confused expression on his face.

It took him a moment to fully register what she'd just said and then a sudden surge of anger rose inside of him. "They're kicking me out?"

She nodded sadly. "They were very firm about this request and as Leopold's legal guardians, there isn't much we could do about it—"

He held up a hand, effectively cutting her explanation short. "It's okay, Dorothy, I don't blame you."

She seemed relieved to hear that. "I'm very sorry, Kenny." She said, gesturing for him to walk out the door.

"See you in a bit, Buttercup." He said as he stood up, keeping his eyes on Butters the whole time. It wasn't right, what his parents were doing. They knew how much he loved Butters, how much Butters cared for him too, and yet here they were, still being as petty as ever. He let his hand brush over Butters' face once, as gently as he could, and then followed Dorothy out of the room.

"I'm sure they won't be long." Dorothy was saying, trying to keep her voice chipper. "They're probably just going to check on him for a while, seeing as he's their son after all. You'll be back at his side in no time."

Kenny smirked. Oh he was sure of that. They were hardly ever around for more than ten minutes these days. Couldn't stand the sight of seeing their son die. He knew that he shouldn't hold it against them for dealing with the situation differently than he was, but he couldn't help the bitterness from seeping into his voice. "Yeah, sure thing."

He and Dorothy passed the nurse's station. He glanced around the area, not seeing Mr. and Mrs. Stotch around. They must have taken the long way around to avoid him. Very typical of them. He rolled his eyes and turned to the head nurse, giving her what may have been a smile (but in reality was probably more of a grimace) and waved. "I'll be downstairs for a while. You'll come and find me when they're gone, right?"

Dorothy nodded. "Sure thing, Kenny."

He winced. How many times had Butters said those exact same words to him before? He tried not to let Dorothy see how much it affected him and quickly turned towards the elevators. He had to keep it together just until the doors opened.

He pressed the button with a little more force than he had intended. Kenny allowed himself a deep breath (which was a lot shakier than he thought it would be) and pressed it again with less urgency this time. It was a few moments before the doors opened. There wasn't anybody inside, for which he was thankful. He stepped into the doors and quickly reached for the button that closed them. The last thing he saw before they shut and he started his descent was Dorothy's worried face looking after him.

As the elevator hummed around him, he let himself lean against the wall, suddenly exhaused. His legs couldn't support him anymore and he felt himself sinking to the floor. He brought his arms up to cradle his head as he fought off the urge to let the tears burning the back of his eyes fall.

Fucking hell, it wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed together now, out of this town, maybe looking for an apartment and… and being happy. But this was how life was supposed to be he guessed. His life at least. Miserable, hopeless, and generally unfair. He felt himself start laughing, a gross broken thing that didn't sound like it could be coming from his own mouth.

This was life as Kenny McCormick. Whenever he got something that made him happy, it was taken away from him. So fucking typical.

He felt the elevator rumble underneath him, wondering for a moment if it was malfunctioning. Which would have been a perfect way to die, if he thought about it. Getting crushed to death by a falling elevator in the hospital. It had happened once or twice before, actually. But no, it only rumbled to a stop and opened its doors for the next floor. Kenny lifted his head, wondering if he'd have to put on a brave face for the passengers who came on. Nobody was waiting for it though, so he just let his eyes roam over the floor until the doors closed again.

This continued until he reached the ground floor. He always lifted his head, wondering if someone, anyone was going to come into his metal prison and break the awful loneliness that seemed to press in on him with every floor that separated him from Butters, but no one ever came in.

The doors opened again and he saw that this floor was busier than all the others. _The ground floor,_ he noted. He stood up and walked out of the elevator, finding that he barely had the strength to leave it. He briefly considered going back in for another mindless ride when a man rushed past him, pushing a pregnant woman in a wheelchair. He doesn't want to ride up with them, and all the other elevators were on another floor, so he forced himself to wander away.

He let his feet guide him, not wanting to put much thought into where he's headed. He made sure to avoid any crowds of people, in the halls, the waiting rooms, anywhere. Eventually, his feet lead him to a sparsely populated room.

He looked around for a few seconds, wondering where the hell he was.

It didn't look familiar at all. He definitely hadn't been here before. The few people that are in there were sitting in rows of seats that took him a minute to place. Pews. He must have wandered into the hospital's chapel.

He might have actually started laughing if it wasn't for all the sad faces that looked up when he arrived. He wanted to shout up to the sky that 'yeah, this was really funny god, make a fucking mockery out of my entire life why don't you?!' but instead he took a seat in one of the pews in the back so that the rest of the people in there would stop fucking staring at him already.

He looked at the dozen or so people once they all bent their heads down again. Most of them look tired. A few of them look devastated. They were the only ones who didn't look up at him. Good, let them keep mourning or whatever it was that they were doing before. He doesn't care anymore.

Actually, that's not true. He cared a hell of a lot, just not about them.

He can almost imagine himself in one of those after school specials that Karen used to make him watch. One where the guy goes into the church for quiet contemplation or whatever bullshit church is for when his life goes to hell. And at the end, god answers his prayers and he gets his faith back and everything is sunshine and rainbows. But this isn't a kid's show and he knows that no amount of praying will fix his problems.

When he dies, he'll just spend the night in hell and come back, a little more broken and alone than before.

He's let his head drop down like the rest of them, so he hears them before he sees them. The couple walking into the chapel, a young guy and a frail looking girl. He looks up with the rest of them, watching the guy carrying the girl between the rows with a loving smile on his face. The girl has a handful of flowers that must have come from the gift shop near the entrance of the hospital and wore a flimsy thing on her head that Kenny was sure he vaguely recognized.

It took him a second to realize that it was supposed to be a veil and that they'd come here to get married.

He heard them talking to the priest that he hadn't seen before but must have been there the whole time. They wanted to tie the knot before the girl's cancer got her, they said. Since she obviously couldn't leave the hospital, they decided to do the ceremony here. They wanted to know if the priest would do it for them now.

He didn't want to be here for this. They looked so fucking depressing, but everyone was looking up at them with freaking smiles on their faces and there's no way Kenny could just walk away without looking like a fucking douchebag. So he stayed in his uncomfortable seat and tried to imagine how much Butters would enjoy watching a loving couple get married. Butters would want to watch, so Kenny does it for him.

It didn't take all that long. The priest said a few things, the couple said a few things, and then they kissed. Kenny didn't really pay too much attention until the bride threw her bouquet. She seemed too weak to throw it very far, but her happiness at just getting married must have given her extra strength or something, because it landed right at Kenny's feet. He blinked at the flowers, light pink, and picked them up without thinking. When he looked up, the new groom had picked up his bride and was leaving to the sounds of subdued applause.

It actually might have been kind of sweet if it wasn't so tragic.

Butters would have still seen the beauty in it though. He would have smiled and waved at the couple as the left, maybe even have caught the bouquet and joked that they would be the next ones to get married. Kenny swallowed the lump in his throat. And he knew that he would have gotten down on one knee and apologized for not having a ring while asking if they could get married too.

He wonders if the priest would perform the ceremony for them. He probably wouldn't, he decides, looking at the man. He looked like one of those conservative types. Besides, he wouldn't want that kind of a wedding, not with Butters. Butters deserved a big wedding, with cake and decorations and all their friends. A hospital chapel wedding was sad. It was resigning to the fact that one of them wasn't ever going to leave the hospital again.

And even now, he couldn't accept that.

He glanced down at his watch, eyes widening at the time. He'd been here longer that he'd thought. Maybe Butters' parents were gone now. It was no use killing time here anymore, at least.

He stood up and walked towards the elevators.

/

"When you get better, we're going to Hawaii again." Kenny whispered, holding Butters' hand up to his cheek. He only had five minutes before visiting hours were over, though he knew that Dorothy would cover for a few extra minutes if he asked. She always understood.

Butters didn't respond, of course. But Kenny wanted to tell him these things, even if they were never going to come true. "This time though, we'll spend every minute together. We'll go in the ocean and swim around until our fingers get wrinkly and buy expensive drinks afterwards, I don't care if I have to spend a week's pay on them. And… And when you get too drunk to walk, I'll carry you to the hotel room. And I won't let you go for the rest of the night."

 _"That sounds great,"_ he imagined Butters saying, smiling up at him with his eyes bright and alert. _"What else would we do?"_

"We could lounge around for hours under the sun." He answered his own imagined question. He squeezed his hand before placing it back on the hospital bed. "And we'd have sex in the morning, nice and slow, and I swear I…"

He can't finish his sentence through the lump that's caught in his throat. The words are too painful, the images they conjure up are pretty, but nothing more than a fantasy. He knows that they'll never be able to take this fabled trip, and he's being delusional for even saying things this.

He's so tired.

He leaned forward and rested his head on Butters' pillow. His eyes sting like crazy, but he's keeping his promise. He forces the words to come out, "I swear I wouldn't mind just sleeping next to you though. I just want to be near you."

He imagined Butters cheerfully answering, _'Well I just wanna be near you too, Kenny!'_ but the silence weighed heavily around him. He had taken it for granted that Butters would always be with him. Kenny pressed his lips to the soft, translucent skin of Butters cheek. It was so cool, as if there was no blood flowing underneath.

It was getting harder to breathe without letting the tears out, but Kenny wouldn't mind suffocating right now. He thinks he might prefer to forget the pain in his heart for the pain of his own death, but he managed to keep breathing, despite the pain.

"Please don't die." He whispered, moving his arms to wrap around Butters' fragile frame. "Please god, don't let him die. Please god, please, please, _please_ …"

He continued to whisper his mantra as the machines around him continued their careful vigilance and the clock slowly ticked away the little time they had left.


	27. Distance

It was so quiet.

Kenny hadn’t experienced this kind of quiet in a long time. When he was in his own bed, even when it was the middle of the night, he could always hear someone screaming. Sometimes it was his parents or his brother, sometimes it was his neighbors, but each time somebody was screaming about how one or the other was completely useless, or a drunk, or a bitch. He was so used to those kinds of things being yelled at all hours of the night that it was almost a lullaby, because as soon as it woke him up, it usually put him back to sleep. Sometimes he felt like couldn’t get to sleep without it.

But it wasn’t like that here, not in Butters’ room. The walls weren’t nearly as thin here as they were in his own home, and he could hardly hear anything besides his and his boyfriend’s breathing. It was so different from what he was used to that he found that his eyes wouldn’t drift closed. Though it wasn’t like he wanted to fall asleep, because tonight was the last night he would be able to hold onto Butters like this.

They’d had sex hours before, and Kenny had tried so hard to memorize every dip and curve of his body as they had moved together again and again. He wanted memorize the shallow gasps that Butters made whenever he kissed his neck, remember the way his fluffy hair felt against his face as Butters pressed soft butterfly kisses to his cheeks, wanted to sear into his memory every single touch that went between them, because after tomorrow, they wouldn’t be able to do that anymore.

Because Butters was leaving for college in California in the morning.

And Kenny was happy for him, he really was. Getting into UCLA, and on a full scholarship to boot, was like a dream come true for Butters. He would finally be free from his parents, free to be who he really was without having to worry about being punished for it. Butters needed to be as far away from Stephen and Linda Stotch as was possible. Kenny was happy for him…

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to miss him like crazy. Kenny couldn’t go with him, it was a fact that had stared him in the face the moment that Butters had told him he had gotten his acceptance letter. As happy as he was for Butters, he could already feel the distance growing between them. California was so far away, and neither one of them was ready for the separation that would be coming in just a few hours. 

They had talked about their options for weeks afterwards, discussing the pros and cons of a long distance relationship. They didn’t want to break up of course. They were perfectly happy as a couple, and Butters believed that they could stay together despite being so far away. But there was the risk that their relationship could become strained, that it could sour and start to feel like an obligation. Kenny was a realist, and knew how often long distance relationships fell apart.

Even now on the eve of their separation, they weren’t sure what they were going to do. Kenny had tried to bring it up when he sneaked in through the window, but Butters had started kissing him the minute he had mentioned it and, well, after a while he couldn’t really remember his own NAME, let alone carry on a conversation. But now Butters was fast asleep in his arms, and he couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen to them long enough to fall asleep too.

He couldn’t just go and chase after him. After all, he had responsibilities here in South Park. Karen was going to be a sophomore soon, and Kenny couldn’t just abandon his baby sister the way their father had done once. Yeah, it was only for a year and the old man had come back no worse for wear, but it had given Karen some trust issues. She needed him. And he happened to have a steady job here. Sure, it was just at the local walmart (how they got one of those back in South Park after all the trouble the town had gone through to get rid of it, he’d never know) but it paid, and he was saving up that money so that they would be able to have food on the table on a DAILY basis. 

Besides, even if he _could_ leave, he wouldn’t have anywhere to stay. Butters would be living in the dorms, and he had heard that the rent in California was ridiculously high. No, going with him wasn’t an option.

Butters sighed in his sleep, momentarily pulling him away from his thoughts. God, he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. All the worry lines that looked like they were permanently etched onto his face when he was awake were nowhere to be seen. He must have been dreaming, because he mumbled something incoherent (though Kenny was sure he had heard his name somewhere in that half-mumbled breath) and pressed his face against Kenny’s shoulder.

Kenny couldn’t imagine what life was going to be like without Butters by his side. He pressed his face into the soft, fluffy yellow hair that hadn’t changed a bit since they were kids, and inhaled. He could smell strawberries, and he knew that it was from Butters’s favorite shampoo, and he could smell something else, something that wasn’t found anywhere else. If comfort could have a scent, then that would be what Kenny was inhaling right now. Strawberries and comfort.

He was sure that there wasn’t anybody else like Butters in the world. Butters was one of a kind, and he couldn’t believe that out of all the people that were out there, Butters had decided that a fuck-up like him was worth his time. Because even though Butters had said he felt so lucky to have Kenny in his life plenty of times before, the fact was that Kenny was the lucky one.

God, he didn’t want the night to end. There were a lot of things he didn’t want to happen, some of them much more practical than just losing his boyfriend for a couple of months (because he was going to be coming back for Thanksgiving break and Christmas), but right now, as the bright red numbers on Butters’s alarm clock signaled that the morning was fast approaching, all he wanted was for the two of them to stay like this. He had always felt comforted by the night, but right now he was mentally clinging to the darkness as if his life depended on it. And in a way it did. His life with Butters, at least, depended on the few remaining moments before he had to get up, get dressed, and let him go.

“I love you.” He whispered into the sleeping boy’s head. He made sure to keep his voice low, just a whisper in the dark. “I love you so much that I can hardly imagine what I’m going to do without you. I want to be with you forever, I want to fall asleep holding you like this every night, I want four years to go by already so that the two of us can find a place somewhere and forget about time apart or wondering if we can last through a long distance relationship. I wish I could go with you, and I wish that you could stay with me, but… wishes are for little kids, aren’t they?”

He took a deep breath, his throat suddenly feeling tight. Butters hadn’t stirred once through that rambling, and he wasn’t sure whether he was relieved about it or not. He pressed a soft kiss to Butters’s forehead and added, “No matter what happens to us though, I want you to know that I love you. I love you more than anyone.”

Butters moaned softly in his sleep, and Kenny held his breath for a moment to see if he would wake up and grin that adorable grin that Kenny loved so much before saying something like “Gee Kenny, I didn’t know you were such a romantic.” But he only shifted a little and settled back against him.

 _Well, it’s not like we’re in a movie or something,_ Kenny thought, smiling down at him. He’s probably binge watched too many romantic comedies with Karen if he thought that something like that would happen.

He must have drifted off for an hour or something, because when his eyelids fluttered open (he couldn’t remember closing them) there was a soft gray light filtering in through the open window and Butters was starting to wake up next to him.

“Mm, Kenny?” Butters asked, his voice groggy as he lifted his head from Kenny’s chest. He blinked up at him sleepily, his long eyelashes brushing the top of his cheeks as he smiled up at him. “Hey, you. Been awake long?”

 _More like I never fell asleep,_ Kenny thought, but instead of saying that (because that little stint of dozing off had to count for something, right?) he shook his head. “No, not too long.”

Butters pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked into his face for a few moments, his eyebrows coming together as he considered his face. Kenny couldn’t resist leaning in and kissing away the little creases that had formed on his forehead.

“Kenny, you didn’t sleep at all did you?” Butters asked, suspicion clear in his tone even though Kenny couldn’t see past the soft hair that surrounded his vision. He pulled back to get a good look into Kenny’s eyes, his own baby blues narrowing when the noticed the dark circles underneath Kenny’s.

“Sorry.” Kenny murmured, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. He knew that he was in for a scolding about how he needed to think of his health more and how not getting enough sleep was bad for him, but instead of hearing Butters tell him what he already knew (and felt didn’t really matter when you got a new body on an near weekly basis), there was just silence on the other boy’s end.

He tilted his head so that he could get a better look at his boyfriend’s face, but Butters had angled his face away from him. When he reached over and tilted his chin towards him, Kenny could see that Butters looked like he was on the verge of tears. Alarmed (he hadn’t said anything stupid had he? God, he couldn’t even wake up next to Butters without making him sad), Kenny asked, “Hey, what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong, Butters?”

Butters shook his head, swallowing what must have been a big lump in his throat. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Kenny. You’ve done everything right, actually.”

“I don’t understand.” Kenny said, brushing back a lock of bed-mussed hair from Butters’s face.

Butters gave him a smile, though it was shaky at best. “Kenny, you know what happens today.”

“Yeah, I know.” But Kenny didn’t want to talk about that now, not when dawn was fast approaching and the last few minutes that they had together were passing by. He just wanted to sink back into the mattress and hold him for as long as possible until he had to sneak out the window again. He didn’t say anything more.

Butters took his silence as an invitation to continue talking. “We… we both know that I’m going to leave and you have to stay, and that there will be hundreds of miles between us. And that we still haven’t figured out what we’re going to do about us.” A few tears gathered on the corners of his eyes, but they hadn’t fallen yet. “H-Haven’t we put it off long enough? We need to talk about the future.”

 _“I know.”_ Kenny repeated, letting his hands bunch up into the sheets. He knew, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to. “I know that, but… Butters, can’t we just let things happen right now? We don’t have to decide whether or not we can make this work right this minute, right? I just…”

A dark spot formed on the sheets, and it took Kenny a second to realize that it was because the tears started to fall from Butters’s eyes. He let his eyes trail up from the sheets to look at his face, wincing at the sadness in his face.

“I… I don’t want us to break up. A-And I don’t want to force a long distance relationship on you either.” Butters said, reaching up to brush away his tears. His breathing was starting to come out in little hiccups, though it looked like he was trying hard to stifle them. “I j-just know that I don’t want t-to be with anybody but you.”

“Butters…” Kenny murmured, turning so that they two of them were facing each other. He grabbed both of his hands in his, waiting until Butters looked right at him before he continued. “I feel the same. Ever since we got together, I’ve only wanted to be with you.”

“Y-You make comments about other people sometimes though.” Butters said, blinking away the tears that had gathered in his eyes, because he couldn’t wipe them away with both his hands pressed between Kenny’s.

“But that doesn’t mean I love them.” Kenny insisted, squeezing their hands together. “I don’t think I could ever love someone who isn’t you. And if you want me to stop doing that, I swear I will.”

Butters shook his head. “N-No, I understand that you’re just a-appreciating their looks. B-But if you want to sleep with o-other people when we’re apart, I don’t want our relationship t-to be a burden that’s stopping you.”

Kenny felt himself growing cold at the very thought of their relationship being a burden. He quickly reassured Butters, “No. NO, you aren’t a burden to me at all, Butters. I love you, and though I might be able to get it up to just about anything, I only want you.” He brought their hands up and kissed their fingers. “Understand?”

Butters nodded, a hint of a smile forming. “Yeah, I understand. S-So what are we going to do?”

“Well, I’d like to fuck you again, but I don’t think there’s enough time before your parents wake up to check on you.” Kenny said, grinning. He even managed to get a real laugh from Butters. “So I say we just watch the sun rise from your window and hold each other until we hear a knock at your door. What do you say?”

Butters leaned over and kissed both of his cheeks. “I say I never knew you were such a romantic, Ken.”

They got out of bed and threw on the clothes that they had left on the floor the night before. Kenny didn’t mind catching a good look at his boyfriend’s naked form while they were changing, though Butters politely kept his eyes averted as they clothed themselves. When they were finished, they went over to the window and sat on the sill together (it was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they were both thin and managed to sit side by side) as the sky slowly started to brighten with the coming sun.

“Kenny?” Butters asked, leaning against his boyfriend’s shoulder as the first rays of golden light started to come over the horizon.

“Yeah, what is it?” Kenny asked, not taking his eyes off the sunrise. It had been so long since he had been up this early, he could hardly remember the last time that he had watched one. It was actually really pretty.

“Do you think the sunrise looks just as pretty in California?” Butters asked, a slight waver in his voice. It sounded like he still wasn’t over his tears, but when Kenny glanced at his face, it was completely dry.

“I think so.” Kenny said, swallowing hard at the sudden lump that had formed. Now that it was officially morning, the feelings of separation were coming at him full force. “It’s probably prettier, but you’ll have to wait two hours from now when you get there.”

“Right, because of the time difference.” Butters murmured. There was sounds of movement coming from inside the house, signaling that their time was almost up. Butters took a deep, shaky breath and turned away from the sunrise. “I’ll miss you, Kenny. I’ll miss you so much.”

Kenny swallowed hard, determined to stay strong for their goodbye. He wouldn’t let the last thing Butters saw of him be his tears. “I’ll miss you too, Buttercup. Have fun in Cali.”

“I’ll try.”Butters said, wrapping his arms around Kenny’s skinny frame. He tilted his face up and said, in his most earnest voice, “I love you.”

“Love you too.” Kenny let his arms wrap around Butters and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth. Butters returned it with just as much care, though Kenny could feel an urgency behind his lips that suggested he wanted to deepen it. But before he could go ahead and do it, there was a knock on Butters’s bedroom door.

“Butters, are you awake yet?” A woman’s voice, Linda’s, asked. “We have to be at the airport in a couple of hours.”

“There’s my cue.” Kenny said, letting the two of them up for air. Butters nodded, fresh tears welling up in his eyes, but Kenny quickly kissed them away. He let Butters step back into his room first before he carefully made his way onto the nearby tree that he always used to sneak around. Just as he started climbing down, he could hear Butters answering his mom that yes, he was awake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I left you all with a sad chapter last time? Well here's another~ I promise the next one will be more lighthearted ^^;


	28. Jealousy

Kenny took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of deep fried food mixed with freshly cut grass and too many people crowded around in one place. It was already a good enough day just hanging out at North Park’s annual county fair, but what made it a really GREAT day was the person he just so happened to be sitting next to.

“This is so much fun!” Butters exclaimed, leaning across the picnic table. He was sitting on the opposite side, so he had to lean a little closer to get a look at his face. Not that Kenny minded one bit. “Can we go on the bumper cars again, Kenny?”

“Sure, if you want.” Kenny said, stretching his arms up towards the sky. Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded if Butters had asked him to ride the dinky little teacup ride, he would’ve been up for it. “First we have to get something to eat though, I’m starving.”

“Yeah, I’m hungry too.” Butters said, and as if on cue, his stomach made a little gurgling noise. His face turned a bright pink, though it wasn’t easy to tell underneath all that make up that he was already wearing. “S-Sorry I…”

Kenny laughed, reaching out and brushing a long strand of blond hair from Butters’s face. “Don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s go get some hot dogs.”

The two of them stood up from the park bench and made their way towards one of the food stands. A light breeze blew through the park, sending both of their skirts billowing around them. Butters tugged on the end of his nervously, fidgeting and looking around in case anybody was staring at them. Kenny felt a smile tugging on the corner of his carefully painted lips and reached for his hand.

Butters blinked at their intertwined fingers, curiosity apparent on his make-up softened features. “Kenny, what are you—”

“Don’t fidget so much.” Kenny told him, his voice filled with confidence. He looked into Butters’ pretty blue eyes and grinned. “If people are staring, it’s just because we’re the two hottest chicks in this whole place.”

That got Butters to smile, even if it was a little nervous one. “I-I wouldn’t say that I was hot…”

Kenny rolled his eyes, leading them towards the line. “Please, not one of the girls out here holds a candle to you. Don’t be so modest.”

Butters smiled a little wider, and Kenny felt his chest swelling up with pride. Butters had been so nervous about going out in full Marjorine garb today, even thought the two of them had been planning on this for weeks. They had had a minor setback when Bebe had gotten a wicked awful cold the day before they were all planning on heading out, and Butters had almost backed out of the whole trip, but Kenny (with a lot of help from Bebe) had managed to convince him to come anyway.

He didn’t mind having to wear a skirt and padded bra. It reminded him of the times that he had dressed up as Princess Kenny. Actually, he was just as comfortable wearing a skirt as Butters was, though for slightly different reasons. Whereas Butters genuinely wanted to wear skirts and dresses sometimes, Kenny just liked the feel of the material against his thighs, and didn’t think that there was such a big deal about a dude wearing a skirt. And if it would make Butters happy? He would put on anything.

The line moved fairly quickly, probably because nobody wanted to linger and talk to the guy serving up the food. Kenny didn’t let go of Butters’s hand, and he was happy to note that Butters wasn’t letting go either. He wasn’t trying to start up anything, honestly he wasn’t, but he couldn’t deny that ever since Butters had let him in on this whole Marjorine business, he’d started to have feelings for him.

At first he had thought they was just feelings of protectiveness. Butters looked so vulnerable when he’d first told him, of course he wanted to protect him. But after a while, the feelings changed. Instead of just wanting to protect Butters, Kenny wanted to hang around him more often, talk to him more often, touch him more often. It wasn’t long before he realized that he liked Butters as more than a friend (although, maybe Bebe flat out telling him that he liked Butters might have had something to do with it too) and now here he was, dressed up as a girl so that Butters wouldn’t feel so anxious about his own appearance.

They reached the front of the line after only a few minutes of waiting. Kenny asked two hot dogs and a soda, hoping that the two of them would share it (he wanted to be a little romantic, fuck off) when Butters reached into his purse for some money, letting go of his hand in the process.

Trying not to look too disappointed, Kenny quickly told him, “Hey, put your money away. It’s on me.”

Butters looked adorably confused. “But you only ordered one soda, Kenny. You shouldn’t have to share with me when I could pay for my own.”

“It’s not that.” Kenny said, his eyebrows coming together. Did Butters not want to share a drink with him for some reason? They always drank from each other’s cup at the movies, so it couldn’t have been a germ thing.

“It’s okay, you’re already paying for my hot dog.” Butters said, smiling brightly at him. “Really, I don’t mind.”

Kenny quickly realized that Butters thought that he didn’t have enough money to pay for two sodas. It was no secret that Kenny was poor as fuck, but he hadn’t thought _that_ would be the reason his dumb little plan wouldn’t work. So he was either going to have to come clean about his scheme, or let Butters pay for his own drink, even though he could afford another soda no problem.

He sighed and nodded, deciding that his pride was worth more than the cost of a soda. “Alright, but just this once.”

“You don’t always have to pay for me, Kenny.” Butters said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a few bucks and handing them over to the vendor. “I mean, it’s not like I’m your girlfriend.”

“Not yet anyway.” Kenny said, giving Butters a lecherous grin. Underneath it though, he felt his heart sinking. He knew that Butters only really saw him as a friend right now, and why wouldn’t he? Kenny flirted with everyone, and he’d never made a point of keeping Butters out of that group. Still, after all the time they had spent together, he thought that maybe the idea that they could be more MIGHT have formed in his head at least.

Butters rolled his eyes, having heard that line so many times that, aside from a light blush, it didn’t even affect him anymore. “I think I want some popcorn too. Do you want any Kenny?”

“Sure.” Kenny shrugged with a smile. So maybe Butters didn’t see him in that way yet, so what? He was determined to change his mind someday, though not anytime soon. He wasn’t going to rush things, not with Butters. “But only because you’re already getting some.Thanks Butters.”

“Butters?” A male voice asked from just behind them.

They both jumped and quickly looked at each other, both their expressions one of shock. They hadn’t told anyone outside of their close knit group that the two of them were going to be in North Park for the day, and one of Butters’s biggest fears about today was that somebody from town would be there and recognize him, and news would eventually get to his parents.

“Wh-who wants to know?” Butters asked. There was fear in his eyes as turned to face the guy who had addressed him, and Kenny fought down the urge to grab hold of his hand again. It might make the whole situation worse, after all.

“Don’t you recognize me?” The guy asked, smiling down at Butters. Immediately, Kenny knew that he wasn’t from South Park. He’d never seen this guy before in his life, though apparently he knew Butters. He was a pretty tall guy, with frizzy blond hair and dark brown eyes. He didn’t appear to be hostile towards them, which Kenny took to be a good sign, but he wasn’t about to let his guard down.

Butters stared at him, his mouth pursing as he took in the guy’s features one at a time. Recognition started to form on his face and his eyes widened as a name tumbled from his mouth. “Bradley? I can’t believe it… is it really you?”

They guy, Bradley, grinned and nodded. “Yeah, it’s me. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“A really long time!” Butters said, surging forward and wrapping his arms around Bradley’s waist, a happy laugh bubbling out of his mouth. “Oh my god, I can’t believe we ran into each other like this!”

“I hardly recognized you in those clothes, but I knew the minute I saw your face that it was you.” Bradley said, easily returning the hug. Kenny noticed that Bradley didn’t seem to mind how touchy-feely Butters was being right now, and he wasn’t letting go fast enough for Kenny’s liking.

“Oh, right, the clothes. I-I can explain about ‘em.” Butters said, quickly pulling away and smoothing out the front of his blouse.

Bradley waved it away with a flick of his wrist. “No, you don’t have to explain a thing. You can wear anything you want.”

Butters smiled radiantly, like Bradley had given him the biggest compliment. “Y-Yeah, that’s what Kenny says too. Oh, I almost forgot!” He exclaimed, turning from Bradley to Kenny. “Bradley, this is Kenny. He’s one of my best friends!”

“Hey.” Kenny said, raising his hand in greeting. He even managed to get a smile on his face, though he was sure that it probably didn’t look all that friendly.

Bradley smiled back at him, definitely friendlier than his own. “It’s nice to meet you, Kenny.”

“This is Bradley, Kenny. He was my accountabilibuddy from New Grace. We haven’t seen each other in forever.” Butters said, his voice becoming a little subdued after he mentioned the thing about the camp.

Kenny knew a bit about it. Butters had told him that his father had caught him in a compromising position with Cartman ( _‘But I didn’t know anything about what he was doing at the time!’_ Butters had been quick to reassure him) and had sent him to that hell hole so that he could be ‘fixed’ there. Kenny was only now remembering that he had mentioned a boy named Bradley a few times, but never in a million years did Kenny think that he was going to be meeting the guy.

“I’m sorry we lost contact.” Bradley said, turning his eyes down towards the ground. “I moved a few months after I got back home, and I lost your address.”

Butters shook his head, sending the long blonde strands of his wig flying. “Don’t worry about that, I’m just glad to see that you’re doing okay now. You look great, by the way.”

“You do too.” Bradley said, giving Butters a quick once-over.

Sure, it was an innocent enough look. The kind that an old friend gave after years of being apart, no big deal. But still, it made Kenny uncomfortable and he cleared his throat loudly. “Uh, I think we’re holding up the line here, guys.”

The two seemed to snap out of their little bubble. Butters glanced around them and saw that they were, in fact, holding up the line. A few people were even glaring. His expression turned sheepish and he gave them an apologetic smile. “R-Right. Let’s get our food and out of the line, Kenny.”

Kenny nodded, and even though it was for a really petty reason, he was glad that Butters hadn’t included Bradley in his sentence.

“Are you going far?” Bradley asked as the man running the food stand handed over two hot dogs and two sodas. He looked at Butters when he asked the question, as if Kenny wasn’t standing RIGHT THERE too.

“I don’t think so.” Butters answered him, grabbing hold of his own food, only waiting for the popcorn now. “Why, are you thinking of joining us?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Bradley said, having just enough decency to look embarrassed. “I came here with a couple friends, but I ended up being such a third wheel that I kind of drifted away for a while.”

Kenny really wanted to say something along the lines of, _‘But wouldn’t you don’t mind being a third wheel with the two of us?’_ , but before he could say anything, Butters started nodding vigorously.

“Of course you can join us!” Butters said, a big grin forming on his features. “It’ll be great spending the day with you, right Kenny?”

Kenny had to really work to keep from rolling his eyes. Butters was looking too happy for him to let him down by saying that, no, it wouldn’t be great. Instead he nodded and said, “Sure, I don’t mind.”

“You really don’t mind?” Bradley asked, looking relieved.

“Bradley, he just said he didn’t.” Butters said, laughing at his friend’s question. The man had just gotten the popcorn and Butters shifted his food in his hand to make room for it. “We’re going to go to the picnic table, so come join us when you get your food, okay?”

“Okay.” Bradley said, a silly smile forming on his face. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Kenny was already steering Butters away. He told Butters it was because he didn’t want somebody to steal the table from them, but really it was just to get away from the other guy. _‘I’ll see you in a minute.’_ Kenny suppressed a sigh at the limited about of time he’d have alone with Butters until the other guy would come and join them.

“I can’t believe we ran into him here.” Butters said as they reached the picnic table, his eyes wide with both surprise and happiness. “And to think I didn’t want to come! Thanks for convincing me, Kenny.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Kenny muttered, ripping open a packet of ketchup and slathering his hot dog with it. _Really, don’t,_ he thought to himself. He would have been much happier spending the day at Bebe’s house, dicking around with make up, than being here. He didn’t want to ask about how Butters felt about Bradley, but he found that he couldn’t help himself. “So that Bradley guy, did you two ever… you know, like each other?”

Butters had been about to raise a handful of popcorn to his mouth, but he paused at the question. He tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand it. “Did we like each other? Well we’re friends, so of course we liked each other. Just like I like you.”

Kenny bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a little frustrated at the lack of an answer that was. “No, I mean did you guys _like_ , like each other.”

A soft smile came on Butters lips. Not a good sign… “Yeah, we like liked each other a lot lot!” He giggled at his little joke before he ate his popcorn. “You know, Bradley said something like that back at Camp once. You two certainly think alike.”

Kenny once again had to suppress a sigh. Butters was definitely the cutest guy he’d ever known, but he was sometimes blown away (and not in the good way) at how oblivious he could be. He was about to ask again in a more direct way, when he saw Bradley walking towards them, a funnel cake and a bottle of water in his hands.

“Welcome back.” Butters greeted as Bradley sat down on his other side. Kenny found it suspicious that he didn’t sit across from him, seeing as there would have been a lot more room for him there. Now the three of them were all on one side of the picnic table.

Bradley grinned. “I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

Oh, hell no. That was definitely a pick-up line. Kenny had used that exact line dozens of times (and most of them had been on Butters!) He hadn’t been sure of it before, but he was sure of it now. Bradley had a thing for Butters.

“Of course not, you were only gone for a minute.” Butters said, taking a sip from his drink. “I DID miss you all these years though. How’s life been, Bradley?”

“A lot better since we were kids.” Bradley said, grabbing a bit of his funnel cake but not moving it towards his mouth. “Did I ever thank you for what you said to me at the bridge?”

“There’s no need too—”

“But there is.” Bradley said, putting the piece of funnel cake back on the plate and turning to face him. He looked serious. “If you hadn’t been there, I know that I would have jumped off that bridge. And I really need to thank you, because you saved me that day, Butters.”

“I was just doing what any decent human being would have done.” Butters smiled gently, putting his hand on Bradley’s shoulder. “I’m just glad that you’re alive, Bradley.”

Kenny had to turn away from the sight. He had known that New Grace was a really shitty place from what little Butters had told him, but he hadn’t known that Butters had talked this guy down from jumping off a bridge. Maybe there was something more to Bradley’s actions than just a simple crush. Hell, he couldn’t blame the guy for liking Butters, the guy was nearly impossible not to like. He suddenly felt a little guilty for disliking Bradley so much.

“Still, thank you for being there.” Bradley was saying, sounding a little bashful. “Um, so what’s going on in your life? What brings you and your friend to the fair?”

Butters sounded a little self-conscious when he answered. “Well, Kenny and I came here because I wanted to go out looking like this.” He must have gestured to what he was wearing, because there was a brief pause before he continued. “And he dressed up too, for support. Our friend Bebe was supposed to come too, but she got sick.”

“I hope she feels better soon.” Bradley said, sounding concerned for her. “And it’s really nice that your friend is supporting you.”

“Skirts are sexy.” Kenny mumbled around a mouthful of hot dog. Bradley may have been a decent guy, but Kenny didn’t like the way that he was talking about him like he wasn’t sitting right next to Butters.

“Kenny!” Butters nudged his arm, and he glanced at his expression from the corner of his eye. Butters was smiling, though looking a little shy. He was still anxious, Kenny could tell. “He means that he likes wearing skirts sometimes too. I don’t wear them all the time, but… they’re a part of me, you know?”

“I understand, a little.” Bradley said, popping a bite of his funnel cake into his mouth. “I mean, not about wanting to wear them, but about it being a part of you. You can’t help how you feel, and as long as you’re happy, you should be able to do whatever you want.”

“Kenny says that all the time!”Butters said, his voice no longer sounding so nervous. “But… If my parents ever found out, they’d ground me for the rest of my life. So we have to sneak around a lot.”

“He’s never once gotten caught under my watch though.” Kenny mentioned, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn. He knew that there was an edge to his voice, but he didn’t try to hide it. “I make sure he’s well taken care of.”

“Kenny’s such a great guy. He didn’t even bat an eye when I told him.” Butters quipped, giving Kenny a sunny smile. “I’m really lucky to have such great and accepting people in my life.”

Kenny felt himself smiling at the praise Butters was giving him and took a quick peek at Bradley’s expression. It wasn’t exactly jealous, but it certainly wasn’t as cheerful as it had been before. And though he wasn’t proud of it, he felt pleased to see it.

The three of them continued to talk like that while they ate. Butters and Bradley mostly talked about everything that had happened to them during their time apart, with Kenny occasionally adding a snarky comment every now and then. He could have tried to contribute more to the conversation, but he was content to just chime in whenever he thought that Bradley was being a little too friendly, to remind them that he was still there.

He had just finished the last of his hot dog and was reaching for another handful of popcorn (he and Butters had more or less shared it evenly, though Bradley had gotten a couple of handfuls himself) when Bradley asked where the two of them were planning on going now that their meal was done.

“We were going to go on the bumper cars again.” Butters said, dabbing his lips with a napkin, careful not to smudge his lip gloss. He was going to have to reapply it in a moment. “But I think we should wait a few minutes, in case we get motion sickness.”

“I’m fine to go right now.” Kenny said, sitting up straight. He really was, more or less, though he wanted to just sit next to Butters, ALONE, for a few minutes. And the bumper cars only sat two people at a time.

“I was just wondering if you guys wanted to head over to the Ferris Wheel first.” Bradley said, leaning closer to Butters. It was actually just so that he could include Kenny in the conversation, but it still made Kenny’s mouth curve downwards. “The seats are extra wide, enough for four people, so we could ride it together.”

“That’s a great idea, Bradley!” Butters said, perking up immediately. “And it’s a lot steadier than the bumper cars, so we won’t have to worry too much about throwing up our lunch. What do you say Kenny?”

Kenny mentally sighed and smiled at his excited face. “I say let’s go for it. The bumper cars will still be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, let go right now.” Butters said, slurping up the last of his soda and nudging Bradley a little. “Excuse me, could you give me some room so I can stand?”

“Of course.” Bradley said, shifting away from him so that Butters would be able to get out.

Butters stood, uttering a soft ‘excuse me’ when he leaned against Kenny’s shoulder. Again, that shameful little bit of pride went through him, because Butters had not only asked Bradley to move away, but had used HIM and not Bradley to get on his feet. Smoothing out the back of his skirt with one hand, Butters, picked up all the trash on the table and nodded to the trash can a few feet away. “I’m going to throw all this out, and then the three of us can go to ride the Ferris Wheel. I’ll be quick, okay?”

“Take your time.” Kenny called to his retreating back, getting up from the table himself and stretching lightly. As soon as Butters was out of earshot, he turned to Bradley and asked one simple question. “So, do you like him too?”

Bradley blinked up at him, shock clear on his features. “What?”

“It’s a simple question.” Kenny said, watching as Butters made his way to the trashcan. “Do you like Butters? Because I do.”

Bradley stared at him for a second, as if he was trying to figure out what Kenny was even saying. To be perfectly honest, Kenny had no idea why he was asking him this. He wasn’t the kind of guy who skirted around what he wanted to say (Butters, on the other hand…) but to be this blunt about it, it was actually pretty out of character for him. But he had to know, he just had to.

“Y-yea,h I like him. I really like him.” Bradley said, turning away from Kenny to look at Butters. He was carefully throwing away the trash, but he accidentally dropped his soda container and got an adorable blush when he had to reach down to grab it.

“I thought so.” Kenny said, mostly to himself. Butters finished and was walking back towards them. He only had a few seconds left before he was back in ear shot. “I hope you don’t mind a little competition, Bradley. Because I’m not giving him up without a fight.”

“I don’t want to fight, but…” Bradley said, trailing off as Butters got closer. He seemed to be picking out his words carefully now that Butters would hear them. “I wouldn’t mind a little competition.”

“Competition for what?” Butters asked, tilting his head at the word.

“He was talking about the arcade games.” Kenny covered up easily, giving Bradley a winning grin. “He and I are apparently a little competative when it comes to those.”

“I don’t really like those games.” Butters said, wrinkling his nose cutely. “They waste an awful lot of money.”

“But they’re a lot of fun.” Kenny said, standing up from the table. “Okay, are you guys ready to go to the Ferris Wheel now?”

“I sure am!” Butters said, smiling brightly.

“Yeah, I am too.” Bradley said, rising from the picnic table. “Let’s get going.”

The three of them started walking towards the Ferris Wheel on the other side of the fair grounds. In a totally unsurprising way, Kenny stood at Butters’s right and Bradley to his left. Kenny would have rolled his eyes at the predictability of it all, but seeing as Butters was happily chattering away, oblivious as ever, he couldn’t really say anything about it.

The line for the Ferris Wheel wasn’t particularly long, but they were going to have to wait a few minutes before they could get on. The three of them stood patiently at the end of the line, Butters going on about how long it had been since he had last rode on a Ferris Wheel.

“It was after Kenny and I went into a Haunted House.” Butters was telling Bradley, his arms suddenly coming up to suppress a shudder. “It was really scary in there, but once the two of us were on the other ride, I wasn’t afraid anymore.”

“I remember that.” Kenny said, having to suppress a shudder of his own. He’d done a little research about the creature that they had seen in there, but he’d come up with nothing of any substance and had more or less forgotten about it until now.

“I think that’s why I’m so excited about riding the Ferris Wheel now.” Butters said, dropping his arms from around himself and looking more at ease. “I remember how nice if felt to be so high up and away from everything.”

“Ferris Wheels give me that feeling too.” Bradley said, turning his gaze up to the machine that stood in front of them. “I think that’s why everybody likes them so much.”

Kenny had to agree with them. This Ferris Wheel wasn’t as big as some of the others he had seen, but it was still the highest point in the whole fair grounds. He could already imagine how it would feel to be so high up from the ground, slowly rising and falling. Kenny was usually worried that he would fall if he was ever somewhere up high, but never on a Ferris Wheel. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was never alone when he rode one.

The Ferris Wheel had stopped and the line started moving forward, it would only be a minute or two until they would be able to get on. Just as they started walking forward though, Bradley’s cell phone started to ring in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked surprised at the number that flashed on the screen. “Why would they be calling…?”

Butters leaned up to get a glance at the screen, his inherent curiosity besting his politeness for a moment. “Who’s calling you, Bradley?

“One of my friends that I came here with.” Bradley said. “I’m sorry, could you excuse me for a moment?”

“Go ahead.” Kenny said, wrapping an arm around Butters’s shoulder and waving him off with his other arm. “We’ll save your spot.”

Bradley thanked them and walked a few feet away to answer the call. He was only gone for a minute, but it was long enough for the line to move so that Kenny and Butters were second in line when he came back. His expression was looking a little disappointed, and it wasn’t from the fact that Kenny hadn’t taken his arm from around Butters.

“What’s wrong?” Butters asked, concern obvious in his tone. “Did something happen?”

“My friend Johnny got sick on one of the rides a few minutes ago and wants to go.” Bradley said, sighing. “We came together in the same car, and my friend Sarah doesn’t have her driver’s license yet, so I have to drive them back.”

Butters looked disappointed too. “Do you have to go right now?”

He nodded sadly. “Yeah, I do. I’m sorry, I won’t be able to ride with you on the Ferris Wheel.”

Kenny felt a little guilty for feeling so pleased about that. He wasn’t going to lie, he would much rather ride the Ferris Wheel with just Butters at his side. He made sure to keep the smile off his face though, because Butters was looking so upset.

Butters stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him, murmuring his own apologies. “I’m sorry too, we only just got to see each other again! It’s such a shame that we have to say goodbye already.”

Bradley pulled away first, holding out his cell phone. “Put your phone number in my cell so that we don’t lose contact this time.”

“Of course.” Butters said, taking Bradley’s cell phone and quickly putting his number in. He handed it back, a sad smile on his face. “Call me anytime you like, okay?”

Bradley nodded, returning his smile. “I will. I had a great time today, I hope we can do this again some time.”

“Me too.” Butters said, reaching out and squeezing his hand. The line started to move again and Butters glanced back to see. “Are you sure you don’t have enough time to ride with us just once?”

“Sorry.” Bradley said, taking a quick glance at Kenny. He was still holding Butters’ hand, and Kenny had a feeling that he wanted to make sure Kenny saw it before he let go. “Goodbye Butters. You too Kenny.”

“Yeah, bye.” Kenny muttered, grabbing the shorter blond’s arm and tugging him forward. “Come on, we’re up next.” 

“Bye, Bradley!” Butters called as he followed Kenny, waving to the taller boy as they walked away from each other. He looked after him for a few seconds before stepping up to the cart that they would be riding in. Kenny let him go in first, following him in as soon as Butters was seated. It of course would have made more sense to sit opposite of Butters, but he sat down right next to him instead.

The ride started up right away, and Butters waited until they were already a few feet up in the air before he spoke. “So what did you think of Bradley?”

Kenny thought a lot of things about that guy, but he wasn’t about to tell them all to Butters. He shrugged his shoulders and gave a safe answer. “He’s a pretty cool guy.”

“Yeah, but…” Butters trailed off, looking out into the fair grounds. 

“But what?” Kenny asked. He followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Bradley’s retreating form. A little bubble of jealousy formed in his stomach, but he quickly squashed it down.

“Kenny, if I didn’t know better…” Butters started, turning his eyes away from the other boy to look into Kenny’s own dark blue eyes. “Well, I’d say that you were jealous of him.”

For a moment, Kenny forgot to breathe. He could feel his eyes widen, but he couldn’t form any words. Butters was a lot more perceptive than Kenny had given him credit for. When his brain started working again, he quickly schooled his expression into one of casual indifference. “Me, jealous? That’s crazy Butters, where did you get an idea like that?”

Butters tilted his head, leaning a little closer to get a good look at his face. “From your behavior. You were acting a little hostile to him the whole time we were eating, and you didn’t really engage in the conversation. Not to mention you were being a little extra touchy around me.”

“I’m touchy around everyone.” Kenny said, averting his eyes. That much was true at least. He couldn’t deny everything else Butters had said though.

“But you were making a real point of it today.” Butters said, a little smile forming at the corner of his lips. “And you didn’t once flirt with Bradley, only with me.”

“Yeah, well…” Kenny mumbled, wracking his brain for some explanation that could get him out of having to answer him. His mind was coming up blank.

“Kenny.” Butters said, and his tone was so serious that Kenny had to turn back and check out his expression. Butters wasn’t upset, at least judging by his expression, but he wasn’t smiling anymore either. “I’d like a forward answer. Were you jealous of him?”

There was really no way out of it. They were in an enclosed space, with no way to get out (unless Kenny was willing to drop down to a very likely death), and Butters had asked him in a way that wouldn’t allow him to give a flimsy answer. Butters was full of surprises, wasn’t he?

Kenny nodded, feeling a lock of his wig brush past his face. It was no use hiding it now. “Yeah, I was jealous.”

“Why?” Butters asked, his eyebrows scrunching together in his confusion. “You don’t have anything to be jealous about.”

Kenny brushed away the hair, wishing he could just take the wig off, but it was pinned to his hair, and he didn’t feel like methodically pulling them out right now. “Because you two have a special connection that I could never compare to. You saved his life, Butters.”

“I would save yours too, if I had to.” Butters said, with all the certainty he could muster. “Bradley is a close friend, but so are you. Like I said, you don’t have anything to be jealous about.”

“It’s easy for you to—” He began, only to be cut off by the feel of Butters’s lips against his cheek. The rest of his sentence, all of the words in his vocabulary actually, left his mind as he realized what Butters had just done. He blinked, and just as quickly as it had happened, it was over.

“See?” Butters asked, looking a little flustered, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Which made two of them. “Nothing to worry about.”

Kenny blinked, letting the words settle in his mind, and suddenly he got the biggest grin on his face. He reached over and gently touched the shorter male’s face. “I think I’m going to need a little more proof than that.”

“O-Okay then.” Butters murmured, and leaned in to press his lips to Kenny’s.

And just like that, all those jealous feelings were gone, as if they’d never been there in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, long time between chapters this time… Whoops ^^; Oh well, I finally got around to editing this one, and it’s hella fluffier than the last one, so I hope you guys forgive me :) This one’s got boys in skirts and, like the title suggests, jealousy! Enjoy~


	29. Cemetary

Butters felt his heart begin to race as he approached the open gates of the cemetery, biting his lip nervously. It felt like it had been a long time since he'd last been here, and every step he took made him feel like his legs were turning into stone. But… he had to do this. He'd made a promise to himself that he would come here at least once a year since she'd passed, and he wasn't about to back out on his promise on the first try.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and blinked up with wide eyes to see Kenny's concerned blue eyes staring down at him. He had almost forgotten that he hadn't come here alone.

"You doing okay?" He asked, his eyebrows coming together in concern.

Those three words were enough to slow down his heart considerably, and Butters attempted to smile at him in reassurance. His muscles didn't seem to want to cooperate though. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright."

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." Kenny said, looking away from him for a moment to glare at the graveyard that stood in front of them. "You don't owe her anything, after all."

Butters turned his gaze towards the cemetery as well, his mouth curving downwards. "I know. She was a horrible person and I'm not sorry she's gone… But I'm not doing this for her, Ken. I'm doing this for me, I promised myself that I'd come here and let her know how I'm doing."

Kenny nodded, shifting his eyes away from the gate, his disgust for her only thinly hidden. "Are you sure you don't want me to go in with you?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Butters said, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. He peeked up from under his bangs and took Kenny's hand in his, squeezing gently. "I'm really glad you drove me here, though. It means a lot to me."

"You know I'd do anything for you." Kenny said, a hint of a smile on his mouth as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his temple, earning a small giggle from his shorter boyfriend. "Good luck in there, Buttercup."

"Thank you." Butters said, his mood quickly dropping as he swallowed hard and let go of Kenny's hand. He walked past the gate and shuddered slightly at the breeze that blew through him. The sun, which had made a brief appearance on the drive over, was suddenly eclipsed by a group of dark clouds, making him shiver again. He was already feeling cold and alone without Kenny's warm body by his side, and this atmosphere wasn't really helping, but he shook his head slightly and pushed the feeling in the back of his mind. He couldn't be worrying about things like that right now, not when he still had this very important task at hand. He pulled his coat a little tighter around himself and kept walking, knowing that Kenny would be at the gate waiting for him until this was finished.

He didn't bother to look around as he passed gravestone after gravestone, the gray slabs of stone that marked the dead strangers beneath his feet holding no meaning for him. A small part of him wondered who these people could have been, how they might have died, but he kept his curiosity down. He wasn't here to mourn people he had never met, after all. There was only one grave that he needed to see, and it was a little further into the cemetery.

The gray sky overhead didn't do much to lift his spirits, and a quick glance upwards let him know that the snow the weather forecast had predicted was only a couple of hours, if not minutes, away. He sped up his footsteps and kept his eyes forward, knowing that his destination wasn't too far away now.

A few minutes later, he found the gravestone he had been looking for. The grave was completely bare of any flowers, unlike a few of the others he'd passed on his way over. The ground in front of it was covered in dark grass, indicating that a groundskeeper must have come around to make it look at least a little nicer. The last time he had been here was at her funeral, and it had been nothing but dark dirt over her coffin. He kept his eyes on the dark green blades, feeling just a little frustrated that even in death someone was still being forced to care for her, and tried to work up the strength to look up at the engraving on the stone.

He swallowed hard as he brought his eyes up to look at the name of the person buried there.

_Marie-Anne Stotch_

_Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Friend_

_1942-2015_

Butters felt something hard and angry clench inside of him at the epitaph. Beloved Grandmother? Those words were the last thing that described her! He clenched his hands into fists at his side and inhaled deeply, fighting off the urge to mash them together. He'd come here for a reason, and it would be better for him to get it over with as fast as possible.

"H-Hey grandma." Butters said, his voice coming out softer than he had intended, almost a whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again, louder. "Hey grandma, I guess you're wondering why I'm here, huh?"

The silence that answered him was strangely satisfying. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn't have to hear an angry or sarcastic retort. He pursed his lips together before he continued.

"Well, I don't blame you, I'm kinda still wondering what I'm doing here myself." He unclenched and reclenched his fists a few times, putting them in the pockets of his jacket when the urge to rub them together became too strong for him to bare. He'd given up that habit a while ago, and he wasn't about to let HER of all people ruin it for him. "Well, that's kind of a lie, actually. See, I came here to let you know something. I've decided to come every year, so don't be surprised to see me next year okay? N-Not that I care about what you have to say anymore. I'd come back even if you didn't want me to."

He felt himself smiling at his words, because he knew how true they were. He had stopped caring about what this woman thought about him a long time ago, even before she'd gotten sick and less intimidating.

"So, about what I wanted to tell you." Butters said, turning his eyes from the gravestone to the gray sky above him. It was darker than it had been a few moments ago, and he could tell that the snow was ready to come down any minute. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm happy now. Really and truly happy, like I never was back when you were still around. There's so much about my life that I'm grateful for, and I wanted to let you know about it all."

He swallowed hard and looked back down at the stone. "I hate to admit it, but you were right when you called me a faggot. I'm gay, grandma, and I finally came out to mom and dad. Dad took it harder than I thought he would, but he and mom agreed not to kick me out of the house. I wonder if you're disappointed in him because of that? I hope you aren't, because even though they still give me disappointed looks, they aren't yelling or threatening me anymore. A-At least, not about my sexuality."

A lump had grown in his throat, and he quickly swallowed it down. He swore that he wasn't going to shed tears over her grave, he didn't want to show her any weakness.

"I've got myself a boyfriend too." Butters said, a soft smile forming on his face despite the burning sensation in his eyes. "His name is Kenny and he's wonderful. He treats me real nice, and respects what I have to say. I had to go through a few really crummy boyfriends before I realized that Kenny wanted to be with me, but you know what? I'm glad I had those relationships too. Because even though Eric and Craig weren't right for me, they helped me see how a real relationship should be. Kenny's everything they weren't and I thank God every day that he loves me."

Butters took a deep breath, willing himself to stay strong. He still had so much more he wanted to say to her, but he wasn't sure he would be able to hold his tears back if he stayed here much longer.

"He supports my dreams too, grandma. He never once laughed when I told him that I wanted to be an artist." Butters took his hands out of his jacket and reached for the book bag at his hip. He took out a sketchbook and opened it, revealing the drawings he'd made. Some were of buildings or foliage, and a lot were of people, his friends, his family, and sketch after sketch of Kenny.

"You see this? This is just one sketchbook out of dozens that I filled." Butters flipped the pages and held them out, even though he knew she couldn't really see them. "I used to think that I wouldn't ever be able to do this for a living, because of YOU. I used to think that my gift was a waste, that I didn't have any talent. But you know what? Kenny showed me differently. He posed for me, for hours at a time sometimes, and he showed me that I could do anything I wanted. I'm going to art school when I graduate, grandma. I-I'm going to be successful, just w-wait and see."

Butters felt his voice quiver and stopped himself, swallowing hard and blinking away the tears that were gathered on his eyelids. He needed to get out of here before they fell.

"Th-That's all I wanted to say for now. I'm really happy now, and everything y-you said? It never mattered."

"You tell her." A soft voice said behind him, causing Butters to jump slightly as he turned to see.

"Kenny." He breathed, gripping his sketchbook to his chest as his eyes widened. "You were supposed to wait by the gate. You promised…"

"Yeah, I did." Kenny said, walking up to his boyfriend and wrapping his arms around him. "But then I realized that you needed me here. Is it okay that I broke this one little promise?"

Butters felt the tears that he had been holding back building up in his eyelids and buried his face in Kenny's coat, a small laugh bubbling out of his chest. "Y-Yeah, it's okay. Just don't go making a habit of it, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Kenny answered, stroking a hand through his shoulder-length hair gently.

Butters let himself cry into Kenny's chest, deciding that just one more broken promise wouldn't hurt so long as he didn't face her grave. He might've been crying in front of her, but her definitely wasn't going to let her see his tears.

"You ready to go?" Kenny asked after a while, long enough for the tears to have stopped, though his breathing was still slightly hitched.

Butters nodded, reaching up between them to wipe away at his eyes. "Y-Yeah, I'm done here."

"Good." Kenny pressed a quick kiss to his boyfriend's cheek and raised his middle finger to the gravestone. "That's for making my baby cry, you rancid cunt."

"Kenny!" Butters exclaimed, his eyes widening at his language.

"What?" Kenny asked, blinking innocently. "You gonna say that I should I show some respect for the dead or something?"

"Normally I would, but she doesn't deserve it." Butters said, a soft smile forming on his face. "I just think that it's a little rude to use THAT word, you know? No matter who it's being said too."

"Alright, I'll make a note not to use that word around you ever again." Kenny said, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and began walking them towards the gate. "Now come on, let's get out of here. I spend enough time in cemeteries as it is."

"Hmm? What was that?" Butters asked, cocking his head in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing." Kenny said, grinning down at him warmly. It was such a kind and gentle smile, and just looking at it was enough to set Butters at ease.

Neither of them looked back as they walked through the gate and towards the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so here's a chapter after almost a year of no updates… To be honest I've moved on to other fandoms since I last posted to this story, but I've got a few chapters of this fic that I never got around to editing so like, I guess I'll just edit and post them. If anybody's still following this, I hope you enjoy :) This one's not really all that romantic, whoops...


	30. Return

“You didn’t have to walk me all the way home.” Butters said, smiling at his boyfriend as they made their way towards the Stotch’s driveway. “It’s not like I couldn’t find my own way back.”

They had been holding hands for most of the way, but now that they were in front of the house they walked with a generous space between them. Of course, Butters’s parents already knew about the two of them, and had (somehow) mellowed out enough to let them date. But only if they didn’t show any public displays of affection in front of them. Kenny hadn’t like the tone they’d had when they said it, but he wasn’t about to start complaining and get their ‘blessing’ revoked.

Kenny tilted his head and let his eyes go comically wide. “I know that. But maybe I just wanted to walk you home like a dumb boyfriend should. Did you ever think of that?”

Butters laughed, and he let his fingers graze the inside of Kenny’s wrist for a brief moment. “Maybe I had thought about it. But don’t say that it’s dumb! Bebe says she would’ve killed for one of her exes to treat her even half as nice as you treat me.”

“Maybe I should have give them a few pointers.” Kenny suggested, and the two of them laughed, even though it wasn’t all that funny. But why the hell shouldn’t the laugh together? Kenny was just coming back from a decent movie (which was a feat in itself, considering how rare it was for the dumpy old movie theater to be playing something nice) with the boy he was in love with, and he hadn’t died for a whole week. Life was pretty good, and right now, he didn’t think that anything could bring down his good mood.

They reached the front door, and Kenny was almost certain that Mr. Stotch was probably glaring down at them from one of the windows. He wanted to tilt his head down a little and kiss Butters goodnight, but they had already done more than enough kissing when they were at the movies, so he decided that it wouldn’t be worth risking to sneak in one more. Instead, he reached up and brushed a stray lock of hair out of his boyfriend’s face.

“’Night Butters.” He said, smiling at him and feeling like he was the luckiest guy in the world.

The smile that Butters gave him back made him think that Butters felt the same way. “Goodnight, Ken. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, okay? Don’t be late.”

He rolled his eyes at him affectionately. “I’m always there before the bell rings, aren’t I? I promise though.” He added when Butters pouted up at him.

“Good.” Butters said, his smile quickly returning. He turned his doorknob and waved at him before going inside and closing the door behind himself. Kenny stood there for a moment, looking at the door until he heard Mr. Stotch’s voice asking Butters what he’d done, why was he almost late (he wasn’t, Kenny had made sure that they had made it back ten minutes before Butters’s curfew), and so on. He shook his head and turned away, making his way down the driveway.

He was almost halfway home, still feeling like he was walking on air, when the semi-truck hit him.

\--

The first thing that crossed his mind when he opened his eyes and was greeted by the familiar overwhelming heat was, _“Of course.”_

_Of course_ he would end up dead after his date, it was so typical. He’d been feeling so happy recently, it was no wonder the universe decided to counter that with a really stupid death. A freaking truck hitting him? So very typical.

And yet, his mood wasn’t brought down in the slightest.

He sat up and took in his surroundings with routine motions. Though the people around here were different, it was exactly the same as all the other times he died and wound up in Hell. Wailing people, the usual confusion as to why they were here and not heaven (Mormonism, the answer was always Mormonism) and though Kenny knew that he probably should be feeling sorry for these people, he found that he didn’t really care about their plight. They’d eventually get used to their situation and, knowing Satan, might even find it enjoyable.

So instead of worrying about the people around him, he started for the direction of Damien’s place. He always hung out with the spawn of Satan until it was time for him to come back to life, and it wasn’t like Kenny was looking to do anything else besides kill some time until then.

It turned out that he didn’t have to go very far. Damien was already walking towards him, an annoyed expression on his face. Then again, he rarely had any other expression on his face these days. Kenny grinned and waved at the other teen, knowing that Damien’s foul mood had nothing to do with him.

“How’d it happen this time?” Damien asked, sizing Kenny up and down. “Get cut in half maybe?”

Kenny rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t offended by the question. It was like a game between them, for Damien to guess how Kenny had met his demise every time he arrived. “Nothing quite so interesting this time, I’m afraid. I got hit by a car.”

“How boring.” Damien yawned, checking his nails lazily. Kenny noticed that he was wearing his usual black nail polish on them, and he was about to make a snide remark about it, but Damien started walking away gestured for Kenny to follow him. “Come on, let’s get to the house.”

“Uh, okay.” Kenny felt his eyebrows going up to his hairline. Normally, if they found each other before Kenny made his way over to the house, they just hung out in the mall (Satan had put it in recently because he felt that his son needed to socialize more with his subjects, but Damien glowered at anybody who approached them so there went the whole socialization thing) until Kenny was sent back. Sometimes they ended up going there anyways, because there wasn’t much to do at Damien’s house besides play video games and listen to Satan bemoan his latest failed relationship if the dark lord wasn’t busy. Damien usually wanted to be as far away from his home as possible… But for some reason, Damien wanted them to go to there today. Strange.

“So, is there any particular reason that we’re going to your house today, or are you just being weird to mess with me?” Kenny asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

Damien just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking in silence. Oh yeah, definitely strange.

They reached the house after a few minutes, and Kenny stared up at the thing, feeling just a little intimidated despite seeing it at least once a month. The place was more like a mansion than a house, several stories high made of black volcanic rock and decorated with the laments of the damned (or so Damien had told him once). Kenny shivered slightly as he and Damien climbed up the steps to the front door, the feeling of being watched going through him as he waited for Damien to get the key from underneath the welcome mat. 

The inside of the house wasn’t nearly as creepy, at least. It was decorated like a typical suburban household, nice furniture and family photos in frames on the walls of the hallway. Damien led him into the kitchen and motioned for him to take a seat on the table. Kenny did, raising an eyebrow when Damien took the seat across from him and just sat there.

The long seconds of silence turned to minutes, and Damien still just sat there and didn’t say anything. Kenny was starting to get bored and frankly a little confused, so he finally came out and asked, “So is there some important reason we’re just here instead of hanging out at the mall?”

Damien scowled at the mention of ‘that repulsive place’ as he always referred to it, but instead of ranting about how it was the stupidest thing his father had ever done, he simply said, “There’s someone there that I don’t want to bump into, okay?”

Kenny blinked and almost burst out laughing. He managed to hold it back and give him a smirk instead. “Is that all? That’s so lame, even for you Damien.”

Damien glared at him. “Fuck off, Kenny.”

“That’s it?” Kenny asked, surprised that there wasn’t much bite to his insult. Damien never left him so _mildly_ insulted like this. “What’s up Damien? Who’s this person that you want to avoid so badly?”

Damien cut off his glare, which hadn’t been all that heated to begin with, to stare down at his hands. “Nobody important.”

Kenny knew that Damien was lying. He had a tell, ever since they were kids. He’d look down at his hands and give terse, one or two word answers whenever he was lying. Kenny couldn’t believe that Damien hadn’t already figured out that he was a horrible liar, but no way was Kenny going to tell him that. It was easier to get information out of him this way.

“Sure, nobody important. That’s why we’re here and not stuffing our faces with bad fries and greasy burgers.” Kenny said, realizing with his words that he was starving. He stood up and went over to the fridge. “By the way, I’m going to eat whatever I find in here, okay?”

Damien gave a half-hearted shrug. “Help yourself, we don’t have anything in there anyway.”

Kenny was sad to see that he was right. There were very few things in the fridge, and what WAS in there didn’t look very appetizing. He settled for the half-empty bag of bread that he knew was probably stale and the mostly-full jar of peanut butter and made himself a sandwich.

When he had his semi-decent meal in front of him, he turned to see that Damien had his head resting on the table, looking more annoyed than usual. Kenny put his plate down and, despite risk of getting yelled at, asked him, “Dude, who even is this person? You’re acting like a lovesick schoolgirl.”

Damien’s eyes widened for a moment before they hardened and he quickly snapped at him. “You’re the one who was walking around with that stupid smile on your face!”

“I have the excuse of being in a really good relationship.” Kenny grinned and taking a bite of his sandwich. It wasn’t all that good, as he had expected, but food was food after all. It didn’t matter how much he would rather have a burger in his hands right now. The peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth, and he wished he had seen some milk in the fridge. Eventually though, he swallowed his mouthful down and cleared his throat. “Seriously though, you’re acting like someone avoiding their crush.”

“Well I’m not.” Damien growled, clenching his fists under the table. “I’m avoiding a very annoying person who insists on trying to befriend me.”

“I insisted on befriending you, but you didn’t try to avoid me.” Kenny felt his eyebrows coming together. Very few people actively tried to be Damien’s friend, mostly because Damien antagonized everybody he met. “The only other person I know who’s ever tried to be friends with you is Pip.”

He looked up sharply at the sound of Pip’s name and Kenny saw that the tips of his ears turned pink. Damien’s eyes tightened. “Don’t even say that name in front of me. He wouldn’t leave me alone the whole time you were gone!”

Kenny felt himself grinning slyly at his friend’s reaction. He wasn’t going to tease him just yet, he didn’t want to get kicked out by the only friend he had down here, but he couldn’t help asking, “What, you didn’t enjoy his company?”

Damien shook his head so violently that Kenny was surprised that he didn’t snap his neck. “Of course not, he’d the last person I want to be hanging out with. The only reason I tolerated his presence was because there was nobody else to talk to.”

Kenny let his voice take on a fake sympathetic tone. “Aw, so sorry that I didn’t drop dead sooner to hang out with you.”

“Whatever.” Damien muttered. “Anyway, now he thinks that me not driving him away immediately those first couple of days makes us friends, and he won’t leave me alone.”

“And that’s why you made us hang out here and not at the mall.” Kenny finished for him, taking another bite of his sandwich. It wasn’t so bad after the first few bites, and since he was so hungry, he didn’t even mind that it was hard to swallow down.

“Exactly.” Damien said, wrinkling his nose at Kenny’s food. “I can’t believe you’re actually eating that stuff. I can’t remember the last time we filled up the fridge.”

Kenny shrugged. “It’s food, and that’s all that matters. You wanna know what I can’t believe?”

“Don’t care.” Damien said, turning his face away from the blond in front of him.

Kenny told him anyway. “I can’t believe that you don’t want to see Pip because you’re starting to feel nervous around him.”

Damien quickly turned to look at him again. “That’s bullshit, Kenny.”

“Just hear me out, alright? One, you’re avoiding him.” He began, using his fingers to show his points. “Two, you’re acting really annoyed but I saw that you were blushing,” He didn’t stop when Damien began to protest that one. “And three, you’re talking to me about this instead of going and confronting him. I’m pretty sure even you know what that means.”

“Does it mean that I’m about to set you on fire?” Damien asked, his black eyes starting to smolder a bright red color.

Kenny laughed, even though it was really stupid to laugh at the guy who literally COULD set him on fire. “It means that you _like_ him, idiot.”

Little flames started flickering in the air around Damien. He looked beyond pissed right now, but he still managed to speak with an even tone. “You’re the idiot if you think that I could ever like that loser.”

Kenny shrugged, playing like it didn’t matter to him. “I’m not going to deny that I’m an idiot, seeing as I’m here and dead instead of asleep in my room. But why would you be so mad if it wasn’t at least a little true?”

“I’m not mad!” Damien shouted, sending a flame flying towards Kenny’s head. Luckily, it fizzled out just before it reached him. Kenny had a feeling that Damien wasn’t really going to hit him with it just yet, but he was definitely relieved when it didn’t singe his eyebrows off.

“Of course you’re not mad. Flames are always coming off of you when you’re calm.” Kenny said, turning his eyes up towards the ceiling. He could have let the conversation drop there and just sit and wait for the moment when he’d wake up in his bed, but he couldn’t help himself from charging forward. “That’s how it was for me and Butters at first, you know.”

Damien blinked, the flickering sparks that danced around him simmered down as Kenny’s words registered in his mind. “Yeah?”

Kenny nodded. “He avoided me, I moaned about it to Stan, and we were pretty much really stupid about it for a month until I finally gave up being dumb and I just told him what I wanted out of our relationship. And now we’re really happy together.”

Damien acted like he didn’t care about what he was saying, but Kenny could see that he was paying attention. “How nice for you. It’s not like that’s what is happening between Pip and I though. I _DON’T_ like him.”

Kenny felt himself getting more and more frustrated with his friend. For the future king of hell, he was unbelievably clueless. “Sure, if you say so. But I just want you to know that cute blond guys make the best boyfriends. Pip’s pretty cute—”

Damien growled, and if Kenny didn’t know better he would say it seemed like it was out of jealousy.

“—And Butters is adorable.” He continued, grinning at his friend’s reaction. “Plus I’m pretty damn good looking too, if you ask me. And since two out of the three of us are in great relationships, I’m thinking that he would make a good boyfriend too.”

“You’re such an idiot.” Damien said, bringing up his hands so that he could stare at them.

“Nope.” Kenny said, popping the last syllable of the word. He still had half of his sandwich left on his plate, but he didn’t have a chance to dig into it the rest when there was a knock at the door.

“Hello, Damien?” A soft voice called out. The British accent was easily noticeable in those two words, and Kenny nearly chocked when he saw the way Damien’s expression turned panicked for a brief second before it morphed into one of utter contempt. “Are you in there, chap?”

“Do you understand now?” Damien hissed at Kenny as he sunk lower in his seat. Kenny thought that he looked like a little kid who was _definitely_ avoiding his crush. “He never leaves me alone. Make him go away, Kenny.”

Kenny bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Not on your life.”

“Damien? I was worried when I didn’t see you at the mall.” Pip was saying, his knocking on the door becoming a little more incessant. “You _are_ in there, aren’t you?”

“He’s in here alright!” Kenny called, standing up and walking to the door. He ignored the death glare that Damien was giving him (as well as the malevolent ‘I swear if you open that door I will disembowel you!’ that Damien half-whispered, half yelled at him) and opened the door with a friendly smile.

“Hey Pip, Damien’s right inside!” Kenny said, only a little surprised that the british boy was significantly taller than the last time he’d seen him, which was back in fourth grade. The surprise quickly went away when he saw the ring that was hanging on a chain on his neck. Damien’s, obviously. Kenny remembered it from years ago, when Damien was still a show-off about all of his dark magic items. He grinned even wider as he lead Pip inside. “Come right in!”

“Kenny?” Pip asked, blinking up at him. His face turned from surprised to sad very quickly. “I’m sorry to see you here. “

Kenny tilted his head in confusion. “And why’s that?”

Now Pip looked confused again. “Well, because you’re dead? You had so many friends, it’s a shame that you had to die and come here of all places.”

Kenny remembered that Pip didn’t know about his cycle of constant resurrection. He smiled as he led the guy inside. “Don’t worry, they won’t miss me for too long.”

“What?”

“Damien will explain it.” Kenny said, walking into the kitchen and meeting Damien’s angry glare with a wide grin. “Why, here he is now!”

“I hate you so much, McCormick.” Damien growled at him, his ears once again turning pink.

He was about to throw back something like, “That’s not what you said last night,” or anything equally cheeky, when everything went white and he suddenly found himself on his bed.

He blinked at his surroundings, and brought his hands up to flex them in front of him. The flesh and bones underneath were working perfectly fine, and overall, he felt fresh. Renewed. He sat up and rolled his head around his neck for a few seconds, letting himself enjoy the few moments where his ‘new life’ felt like just that, new.

He opened his eyes once more and checked the clock, nearly falling out bed when he saw the time. Fuck, he was going to be late! He leaped out of his bed and rushed around his room, putting on whatever came into his hands without checking to see if it was rank or not, much less if it matched. He had ten minutes to make it to school before the first bell rang, and only fifteen minutes before he was officially late. He had a promise to keep!

He pulled on his boots and threw on his parka over the stained t-shirt and old jeans he had haphazardly thrown on, and ran out the door. He saw his brother at the kitchen table as he passed by, probably eating a poptart or something, but Kenny didn’t have time to greet him or even think to grab one to eat on the way. He took off for the direction of the school running as fast as he could, knowing that any pit stops would cost him too much time that he couldn’t afford to lose.

His lungs were aching with the strain he was putting on them, but Kenny found that he didn’t really mind it. Sure, he didn’t like that he needed to run all the way to school because he’d overslept (or maybe it had taken his body a long time to wake up, who knew?) but it didn’t matter because he was running to see Butters. That alone was more than enough reason for him to kick up the pace just a little more.

He sped pass the dilapidated houses that made up his neighborhood, ran as fast as he could through the town, despite knowing that he probably wasn’t going to make it in time, never slowing down. He had promised that he was going make it to school on time, so he couldn’t give up. He could see the school in the distance, and with a strong resolve, he ran towards the relatively small high school as fast as his legs could carry him.

He was only a few blocks away from the school when he realized that someone was standing at the front of the school. After he jogged few more feet he could tell that it was somebody with blond hair, and a few more after that, he could see that it was Butters, looking in the opposite direction to see if he was coming.

Kenny felt his mouth turning up into a grin, even as he felt like he was about to cough up a lung any second now. There he was, the guy he was willing to run over two miles in ten minutes for. Kenny waited until Butters turned his face towards him and lifted up his hand to wave at him. The brilliant smile that Butters gave him more than made up for the fact that lifting his arm had taken all the effort he could spare.

“Kenny, you made it!” Butters exclaimed as Kenny quickly closed the gap between them. He held his arms out and Kenny ran right into them, holding on tight and swinging the shorter boy in a brief circle. “I knew you would!”

“R-Really?” Kenny asked, his breathing uneven and coming out in quick pants. “I h-had a few doubts.”

Butters took a step back and gave him a mischievous grin. “Then it’s a good thing that I never doubt you.”

Kenny grinned back at him and let his arms drop, but kept hold of Butters’s hand. “That’s a good way to get double crossed, you know.”

Butters stuck out his tongue at him. “Well, are you planning on double crossing me for some reason?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Kenny said, leaning down to kiss the shorter blond on the cheek. “Come on, we’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”

Butters nodded and they walked into the school just before the first bell rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's another chapter. It took me forever to find the energy to edit it, so I hope you enjoy :) This one's got established Bunny, and some Dip too!


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